Thursday, March 6, 2014

TODAYS ISSUE:
3SECTIONS
24PAGES
P25
METRO MANILA,
PHILIPPINES
S1/1-12
www.bworldonline.com
Debt ratio
better as of
Q3 last year
Debt, S1/3
GENERAL GOVERNMENT (GG)
debt as a percentage of the econo-
my improved as of the third quar-
ter of 2013 from a year earlier as
the state continued to manage its
liabilities.
The Finance department, in a
statement, placed the obligations
at P4.468 trillion as of September
2013, comprising 39.7% of gross
domestic product (GDP).
The GG-debt-to-GDP ratio is
an improvement from the 40.3%
recorded a year earlier as well as
the 40.6% recorded at the end of
2012.
General government debt con-
solidates the outstanding debt of
the national government (NG)
less those held by the Bond Sink-
ing Fund, local government units
(LGUs), Central Bank Board of
Liquidators (CB-BOL) and social
security institutions (SSIs).
It also excludes intra-sector
debt holdings, which comprise NG
debt held by SSIs and LGUs, and
LGU debt held by the Municipal
Development Fund Ofce.

February infation
lower than expected
INFLATION EASED to 4.1% in
February, the Philippine Statis-
tics Authority (PSA) reported on
Wednesday, giving monetary au-
thorities the leeway to keep policy
rates steady later this month.
The February headline number,
which was traced to lower price
hikes for alcoholic beverages, to-
bacco and transport, was down
from Januarys 4.2%. It was, how-
ever, signicantly faster than the
3.4% registered a year earlier.
The result fell within the Bang-
ko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) 3.8-
4.6% outlook for the month and
was lower than the 4.3% median
forecast in a BusinessWorld poll.
Core ination, which excludes
items such as food and energy with
volatile price movements, also
went down to 3.0% in February
from 3.2% in January.
Ination, S1/3
Halted
Police block farmers at the gates of the House of Representatives in Quezon City in this photo taken yesterday. The farmers
were protesting the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and proposed amendments to the Constitution.
By Judy Danibelle T. Chua Co
Senior Researcher
REUTERS
Philippines
under pressure over
high rice prices
Meralco says rates to go down
CUSTOMERS of Manila Electric
Co. (Meralco) can expect to pay
less for power this month, the dis-
tribution utility yesterday said,
given lower costs incurred from
suppliers.
We have good news for our
customers. They may see another
decrease in the generation charge
in their March bills [following a re-
duction last month], the company
said in a statement.
Februarys generation charge
was P5. 54 per kilowatt-hour
(kWh), down from the P5.67/kWh
imposed in January.
RICE PRICES in the Philippines
have risen for six straight weeks,
piling pressure on the government
to import more of the national
staple to stabilize markets and
curb infation already at two-year
highs.
While bumper harvests in other
countries have stoked a global
rice glut, prices in the Philippines
have climbed around 4% in the
last three months after super
typhoon Haiyan devastated key
growing regions and as the gov-
ernment clamps down on smug-
glers looking to avoid hefty taxes.
Increased purchases by the
Philippines, one of the worlds
largest rice buyers, would help
ease global oversupply, with
Vietnam and Thailand likely to bid
aggressively for any new deal from
their Southeast Asian neighbor.
National Food Authority (NFA)
spokesman Rex C. Estoperez
confrmed reports that Manila
has since late January doubled
the amount of rice being released
into markets from stockpiles most
days, looking to curb price gains.
Private traders are running out
of stocks, thats why we have re-
leased [more] rice into the market
from our warehouses, he said.
That has further drained
NFA stocks that had dwindled
to around 275,000 tons at the
start of the year equivalent to
eight days worth of consumption,
nearly half normal levels. Figures
for January are due to be released
next week.
The US Department of
Agriculture has already said it
expects Philippine imports to hit
1.4 million tons in 2014, which
would be the highest in four years.
The country has yet to confrm
any purchases beyond 500,000
tons it bought from Vietnam in a
government-to-government deal in
November. Vietnam, the worlds
second-biggest rice exporter after
India, is traditionally the Philip-
pines biggest supplier as it usu-
ally offers cheaper rice.
For Thailand, a deal to sell
rice to the Philippines would help
offoad some of its huge reserves
and raise much-needed money to
pay farmers that participated in a
controversial subsidy scheme.
The average retail price of well-
milled rice in the Philippines rose
a further 1.2% in February from
the previous month to P40.12
per kg, and was up 13.7% from a
year ago, data from the Bureau of
Agricultural Statistics showed on
Tuesday.
Mr. Estoperez said the NFA had
doubled the rice allocated each
day to government accredited
outlets to 2,500 kg per location.
Details on the number of accred-
Based on initial figures, the
cost of supply from our power
supply agreements, independent
power producers and from the
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market
have all gone down during the Feb-
ruary supply month, which will
impact on the March bill, Meralco
said.
The generation charge the
cost of power sold to a power dis-
tributor accounts for around
57% of total charges in Meralcos
electricity bill. The rest comprises
the distribution charge (17.6%),
transmission charge (9%), system
loss charge (5%), and taxes and
other charges (11.5%).
The rm said the March gener-
ation rate was still being nalized.
Meralco utility economics head Meralco, S1/3
By Claire-Ann C. Feliciano
Reporter
Larry S. Fernandez said the gure
could be announced by Monday.
There are no gures yet. There
are strong indications that genera-
tion charge will be lower than Feb-
ruarys, Mr. Fernandez reiterated
in a text message.
Meralco also urged customers
to prepare for the summer months
as electricity consumption histori-
cally goes up during the period.
According to our weather
bureau... we could start experi-
encing... hot weather starting
next month. Given this advisory,
we would like to encourage our
customers to practice energy ef-
ciency, the rm said.
Meralco suggested unplugging
appliances when not in use and
Rice, S1/3
SECTION 1
2 THE ECONOMY
4-5 OPINION
6 CORPORATE NEWS
7 PROPERTY
8 AGRIBUSINESS
9 WORLD
10-12 THE NATION

SECTION 2
1&3 BANKING & FINANCE
2 STOCK MARKET
4-5 WORLD SPORTS
6-7 ARTS & LEISURE
8 SPECIAL FEATURE

SECTION 3
1-2 FINANCIAL TIMES
3 WORLD BUSINESS
4 WORLD MARKETS
CONTENTS VOL. XXVII, ISSUE 154
WORLD REVIEW
GENEVA
Mercedes, Inniti to cooperate
Daimlers Mercedes and Nissans Inniti
plan to pool development of compact
cars to cut costs, expand the German
car makers North American production
and broaden the Inniti lineup, people
familiar with the matter said. S3/3
NEW YORK
Stocks rise on reduced tensions
US stocks rallied on Tuesday, with the
S&P 500 at a record high, as fears eased
of a confrontation between Russia and
Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir
Putin said there was no need to use military
force in the Crimea region for now. S3/4
5050
5120
5190
5260
5330
5400
4850
4960
5070
5180
5290
5400

STOCK MARKET
ASIAN MARKETS MARCH 5, 2014
JAPAN (NIKKEI 225) 14897.63 176.15 1.20
HONG KONG (HANG SENG) 22579.78 -77.85 -0.34
TAIWAN (WEIGHTED) 8632.93 78.39 0.92
THAILAND (SET INDEX) 1351.64 5.82 0.43
S.KOREA (KSE COMPOSITE) 1971.24 17.13 0.88
SINGAPORE (STRAITS TIMES) 3116.64 11.93 0.38
SYDNEY (ALL ORDINARIES) 5446.23 46.00 0.85
MALAYSIA (KLSE COMPOSITE) 1829.11 2.65 0.15
JAPAN (YEN) 102.390 101.810
HONG KONG (HK DOLLAR) 7.760 7.761
TAIWAN (NT DOLLAR) 30.265 30.291
THAILAND (BAHT) 32.290 32.460
S. KOREA (WON) 1070.300 1071.550
SINGAPORE (DOLLAR) 1.270 1.271
INDONESIA (RUPIAH) 11580 11590
MALAYSIA (RINGGIT) 3.270 3.276
WORLD MARKETS MARCH 4, 2014
WORLDCURRENCIES MARCH 5, 2014
ASIAN CURRENCIES MARCH 5, 2014
PESO DOLLAR RATE
DOW JONES 16395.880 227.85
NASDAQ 4351.972 74.671
S&P 500 1873.910 28.18
FTSE 100 6823.770 115.42
EURO STOXX50 2957.040 56.27
$/UK POUND 1.6685 1.6702
$/EURO 1.3722 1.3753
$/AUST DOLLAR 0.8959 0.8955
CANADA DOLLAR/US$ 1.1085 1.1084
SWISS FRANC/US$ 0.8878 0.8836

INDEX
30 DAYS TO MARCH 5, 2014
OPEN: 6,399.67
HIGH: 6,482.15
LOW: 6,399.67
CLOSE: 6,456.14
VOL.: 1.741 B
VAL(P): 12.951 B
FX
OPEN P44.690
HIGH P44.680
LOW P44.790
CLOSE P44.765
W. AVE. P44.759
VOL. 758.50 M
LATEST BID
0900GMT PREVIOUS
CLOSE NET %
CLOSE NET
CLOSE PREVIOUS
30 DAYS TO MARCH 5, 2014
61.54 PTS.
0.96%
COMPOSITE

WEIGHTED AVE.
5.6
CTVS.
By Bettina Faye V. Roc
Senior Reporter
Lenten symbol
A devotee with a cross marked on her
forehead takes part in the commemo-
ration of Ash Wednesday outside a
Roman Catholic church in Paraaque,
Metro Manila in this photo taken yes-
terday. Ash Wednesday, which serves
as a reminder that as a man is dust,
so unto dust he shall return, marked
the beginning of the 40-day Lenten Sea-
son in the Roman Catholic calendar.
R
E
U
T
E
R
S
By Daryll Edisonn D. Saclag
Reporter
ASEAN-HK trade deal
studied
Malaysia, Philippines
agree to see biz
prospects
Two more
bidders for
Southwest
Terminal PPP
Committee set up for petroleum,
coal contract transparency
Public hearings
set for plastic materials,
steel products
Thursday, March 6, 2014 2/S1
The
Economy
THE PHILIPPINES is studying a
possible ASEAN free trade agree-
ment (FTA) with Hong Kong,
Trade Secretary Gregory L. Do-
mingo yesterday said.
Were conducting studies and
scoping, Mr. Domingo said on the
proposed FTA.
But, so far, the Philippines is
likely to benet from the proposed
trade pact as the balance is in the
countrys favor.
Data from the Trade depart-
ment Web site showed that Phil-
ippine exports to Hong Kong
reached $4.8 billion in 2012 while
imports amounted to $1.5 billion,
with electronics being the top
traded goods between the two.
An FTA will reduce the friction
in terms of procedures and regula-
tory measures thereby speeding
up the entry and exit of goods,
said Mr. Domingo.
IN ANTICIPATION of the next
Philippine Energy Contracting
Rounds (PECR), slated to take
place this year, the Energy depart-
ment has ordered the creation of a
committee to ensure a more trans-
parent and competitive system of
granting the rights to explore and
develop the countrys coal and pe-
troleum resources.
The department, in a circular
posted on its Web site, has out-
lined procedures to govern the
system of awarding petroleum
service contracts and coal operat-
ing contracts.
This circular shall apply to the
determination of the legal, techni-
cal, and nancial qualications of
applicants, the evaluation of their
applications, and the award of cor-
responding service and operating
contracts for petroleum and coal
resources, the document, dated
Feb. 24, stated.
The circular creates a Review
and Evaluation Committee (REC)
to consist of the undersecretary in
charge of the Energy Resource De-
velopment Bureau, his assistant,
and the directors of the ERDB, le-
gal services, and nancial services.
As part of its responsibilities, the
REC is tasked to identify the pro-
spective coal and petroleum areas
within the countrys territory.
In this regard, the REC shall
notify the local government units of
the ofered areas within their terri-
torial jurisdiction, prior to the inclu-
THE TARIFF Commission has set
a public hearing for petitions to
modify tarif lines for plastic mate-
rials and steel products, according
to a notice published in a newspa-
per yesterday.
The Tariff Commission will
conduct a public hearing on Mar.
20 at 9:00 a.m. regarding the pe-
titions on the tariff modification
of polylactic acid (PLA) film and
semi-finished products of iron
or non-alloy steel. Venue of the
hearing is at the Tariff Commis-
sion Conference Room, 5
th
floor,
Philippine Heart Center Building,
East Avenue, Quezon City, the
notice said.
Products that will be covered
by the hearing are other plates,
sheets, film, foil and strip, of
other polyesters with tarif code
3920.69.00 and semi-finished
products of iron or non-alloy
steel with tarif codes 7207.11.00,
7207.12.90, 7207.19.00, 7207.21.21,
7207. 20. 29, 7207. 20. 92, and
7207.20.99.
The petition to modify the tarif
line on PLA lm was led by plas-
tic maker First In Colours, Inc.
which imports the product from
Japan. The petition to modify the
tariff line on steel products was
not immediately provided, how-
ever. Daryll Edisonn D. Saclag
TAXWISE
OR OTHERWISE
Carlos R. Mateo
The right to due process in a tax assessment
THE BUREAU of Internal Reve-
nue (BIR) has the gargantuan task
of collecting P1.4 trillion in tax
revenue for 2014. Consequently,
various revenue issuances have
been circulated to enhance tax
compliance and intensify collec-
tion eforts. One such issuance is
Revenue Memorandum Circular
(RMC) No. 11-2014, clarifying cer-
tain issues arising from amend-
ments introduced by Revenue
Regulations No. 18-2013 on RR 12-
99 relative to the tax assessment
process. In ne-tuning policy in-
terpretations, the RMC raises sev-
eral points of interest.
Foremost, the RMC operation-
ally denes the term duly autho-
rized representative as referring
to Revenue Regional Directors,
Assistant Commissioner - Large
Taxpayers Service and Assistant
Commissioner - Enforcement
and Advocacy Service. Upon re-
ceipt of a preliminary assessment
notice (PAN) or Formal Letter of
Demand/Final Assessment Notice
(FLD/FAN) from the BIR, the tax-
payer must le a response or pro-
test letter with the duly authorized
representative who signed the
PAN or FAN. Filing with the wrong
ofce/person is fatal to the pursuit
as it will render such response or
protest as not led at all. Conse-
quently, the ndings become nal,
resulting in the issuance of a FAN
(for wrongly led response to the
PAN) or a non-appealable assess-
ment (for wrongly filed protest
letter to the FAN).
Although RR 18-2013 had elimi-
nated the need for the BIR to issue
a notice of informal conference
(NIC) as part of the assessment
process, taxpayers still have the
option of paying the deficiency
taxes and penalties prior to the
issuance of the PAN. In such cases,
voluntary payment stops the run-
ning of the 20% per annum pen-
alty interest. While this provides
momentary relief from escalating
tax liabilities, the option ofers no
guarantee that the ndings of the
Revenue District Office (RDO)
will be sustained by the reviewing
office (i.e., Regional Office, Legal
Service or equivalent office). In
other words, early settlement of
deciency taxes may not provide
any benefit if the initial findings
are set aside and a new assessment
is issued by the reviewing office
that is different from the earlier
recommendations by the RDO.
Further, the RMC states that a
nal demand letter for payment of
delinquent taxes may be considered
a decision on a disputed assess-
ment. Although such statement
finds basis in certain court deci-
sions, it would only seem fair to tax-
payers if the BIR will unequivocally
state that the final decision will
follow the specic form of a Final
Decision on Disputed Assessment
(FDDA) as provided in Section 3.1.5
of RR 18-2013. This would dispel
any confusion on whether a notice
is considered an FDDA or not.
Under the rules, once an FDDA is
issued by the BIR, the taxpayer has
only 30 days from receipt thereof to
le an appeal.
Under RR 18-2013, If the tax-
payer within 15 days from date of
receipt of PAN responds that he/it
disagrees with the ndings of de-
ciency tax or taxes, an FLD/FAN
shall be issued within 15 days from
ling/submission of the taxpayers
response, calling for payment of
the taxpayers deficiency tax li-
ability, inclusive of the applicable
penalties. While the non-obser-
vance of the 15-day period for the
issuance of the FAN shall not afect
its validity, the RMC provides that
the revenue ofcer who caused the
delay shall be subject to adminis-
trative sanctions.
The foregoing provision under
the RR denotes that any response
to the PAN will automatically be
denied and, thus, efectively negates
the pre-assessment notice stage.
This appears to violate the spirit of
the due process requirement under
Section 228 of the Tax Code, which
requires the BIR to rst notify the
taxpayer of the ndings and to re-
quire a response. If the taxpayer
fails to respond, the BIR shall issue
a FAN based on said ndings.
It is also worthy to state that,
in a number of cases, the courts
have held that the 15-day period
for the taxpayer to formally reply
to the PAN is mandatory, and the
non-observance thereof is con-
sidered a violation of due process.
Thus, the CTA has, on occasion,
ruled against the BIR and nullied
assessments where the FAN was
issued without waiting for the tax-
payers reply to the PAN or before
the lapse of the 15-day period.
Though the current assessment
process still gives taxpayers a 15-
day period to respond to the PAN,
the fact that any such response
will automatically be denied with
the issuance of the FAN another
15 days after, effectively makes
the taxpayers response a mere
formality. One could say that the
grant of the 15-day period is with-
out any real value and thus goes
against the spirit of the due pro-
cess requirement under our laws.
Fundamentally, No person shall
be deprived of life, liberty and prop-
erty without due process of law, nor
shall any person be denied the equal
protection of the laws. (Article III,
Section I of the Bill of Rights of the
Philippine Constitution).
The power of taxation must be
exercised with restraint since it
deprives a taxpayer of his proper-
ty. Thus, in Roxas vs. Court of Tax
Appeals, G.R. No. L-25043, dated
April 26, 1968, the Supreme Court
held: The power of taxation is
sometimes called also the power to
destroy. Therefore it should be ex-
ercised with caution to minimize
injury to the proprietary rights of
a taxpayer. It must be exercised
fairly, equally and uniformly, lest
the tax collector kill the hen that
lays the golden egg. And, in order
to maintain the general publics
trust and confidence in the Gov-
ernment, this power must be used
justly and not treacherously.
The constitutional right to
due process has primacy over the
power of taxation, such that In
balancing the scales between the
power of the State to tax and its
inherent right to prosecute per-
ceived transgressors of the law on
one side, and the constitutional
rights of a citizen to due process of
law and the equal protection of the
laws on the other, the scales must
tilt in favor of the individual, for a
citizens right is amply protected
by the Bill of Rights under the Con-
stitution. Thus, while taxes are
the lifeblood of the government,
the power to tax has its limits, in
spite of all its plenitude. (CIR vs.
Metro Star Superama, Inc.)
Based on the foregoing, it is sin-
cerely hoped that the BIR would
revisit the provision of RR 18-2013
(as reiterated in RMC 11-2014) and
consider the arguments raised by
the taxpayer in response to the
PAN, instead of issuing an outright
denial by the issuance of a FAN.
In creating consonance, there is
wisdom to reconciling conicting
interests. While citizens must pay
taxes without much hindrance,
the authority to tax must also be
wielded with utmost consider-
ation for the common good.
The author is a director at the tax
services department of Isla Lipana
& Co., the Philippine member rm
of the PwC network. Readers may
call (02) 845-2728 or e-mail the
author at carlos.mateo@ph.pwc.
com for questions or feedback. The
views or opinions presented in this
article are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily represent
those of Isla Lipana & Co. The rm
will not accept any liability arising
from the article.
BUSINESSMEN from Malaysia and
the Philippines have agreed to ex-
plore investment opportunities in
each others palm oil, rubber, infra-
structure, and tourism sectors, Trade
Secretary Gregory L. Domingo yester-
day said.
These interests were expressed
at business matching activities held
last week in Kuala Lumpur, which co-
incided with President Benigno S.C.
Aquino IIIs state visit there, the Trade
offcial noted.
In one of the business meet-
ings, Mr. Domingo said government
offcials met with representatives of
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), re-
sort operator Genting Malaysia Bhd,
and low-cost airline AirAsia Bhd.
TWO more rms are bidding for
the P2.5-billion Integrated Trans-
port System (ITS) Southwest
Terminal Project under the De-
partment of Transportation and
Communications (DoTC).
The DoTCs Special Bids and
Awards Committee on Tuesday
released General Bid Bulletin
No. 07-2014, which added State
Properties Corp. and Expedition
Properties Corp. to the nine com-
panies vying for the public-private
partnership (PPP) project.
The second of two rounds of
meetings was initially to take place
Mar. 17-19 but was extended for
the new entrants, which will both
be present on Mar. 20.
The bid bulletin also required
participants to submit any ques-
tions three calendar days before
their scheduled conference with
the DoTC.
Bid submission deadline and
opening of qualification docu-
ments have been set for May 15,
with scrutiny of the latter occur-
ring within ten days of submission.
Technical proposals will be
opened in June and evaluated
within 20 days of submission. Fi-
nancial proposals will also be
opened that month and evaluated
in 15 days.
The Notice of Award (NoA) will
be released within ve days from
the winners selection.
Upon receiving the NoA, the
winning bidder must prove com-
pliance before signing the Date of
Concession Agreement.
The nine other participant com-
panies, in order of scheduled meet-
ings, are D.M. Wenceslao and As-
sociates, Inc.; the co-bidding Ayala
Land, Inc. and Ayala Corp.; Metro
Pacic Tollways Corp.; San Miguel
Corp.; Vicente T. Lao Construction;
Egis Projects SA; Robinsons Land
Corp.; Filinvest Land, Inc.; and
Megawide Construction Corp.
The ITS Southwest Terminal
Project will be built southwest of
Metro Manila near the Manila-
Cavite Expressway and will serve
Manila-bound commuters from
Cavite.
According to the PPP Center
Web site, previously awarded
contracts for PPPs as of Feb. 14,
2014 are the P2.01-billion Daang
Hari-SLEX Link Road Project,
P16.28-billion PPP for School
Infrastructure Project Phase I,
P15.52-billion NAIA Expressway
Project, P3.86-billion PSIP Phase
II, P5.69-billion Modernization of
the Philippine Orthopedic Center,
and the P1.72-billion Automatic
Fare Collection System. Anton
Joshua M. Santos
According to the Hong Kong
governments Web site, the FTA
is expected to cover elimination
of tariff and non-tariff barriers;
preferential rules of origin; lib-
eralization of trade in services;
liberalization, promotion and pro-
tection of investment; and dispute
settlement mechanism.
Hong Kong, according to the
ASEAN (Association of Southeast
Asian Nations) Web site, initially
proposed to join the ASEAN-Chi-
na FTA in 2011.
But, Mr. Domingo said the
10-member bloc counter-pro-
posed a separate trade pact with
Hong Kong last year.
At that time, Hong Kong was
requesting accession into ASEAN-
China FTA. But we thought it is
better to negotiate a separate one
since accession is more difcult,
the Trade ofcial said.
Since then, he said, ASEAN
member-states Brunei, Cam-
bodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Sin-
gapore, Thailand, and Vietnam
have started their own studies on
the proposed trade pact.
Aside from the FTA with China,
the bloc also has trade agreements
with Japan, Australia, New Zea-
land, South Korea, and India.
Mr. Domingo said ASEAN and
Hong Kong have not yet set a time-
table for the agreement.
The Trade official also said he
does not see the Manila hostage
crisis involving Hong Kong na-
tionals in 2010 as a roadblock.
For me, its business as usual,
he said.
ASEAN is Hong Kongs second
largest trading partner after China
for trade in goods. Daryll Edi-
sonn D. Saclag
We invited Maybank to look at
shariah banking in the Philippines.
They said they will look at it. For
AirAsia, they said they will study very
seriously a Kuala Lumpur-Davao link.
For Genting, we requested them to
make an all-Philippine-islands tour,
and they said they will consider it.
They also expressed interest in palm
oil plantation in Mindanao, said Mr.
Domingo.
Investor interest in the Philip-
pines is expected to increase
further once the Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro be-
tween the government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front is signed
this year, he added.
The Trade chief also said that the
Philippines offered Malaysia assis-
tance in accrediting halal products.
Philippine exports to Malaysia
reached $1.017 billion in 2012 while
imports amounted to $2.503 billion.
sion to the PECR, the circular read.
The committee will also have
the obligation to examine, evaluate
and review the technical, nancial,
and legal capabilities of project ap-
plicants and, after which, recom-
mend to the Secretary the award
of contracts.
It is also the RECs responsibil-
ity to [r]esolve issues in relation
to the legal, technical and nancial
capabilities of applicants, includ-
ing motions for reconsideration.
The circular also detailed the
procedure for awarding petroleum
service contracts and coal operat-
ing contracts.
Since the REC will determine
the prospective areas, it should
also prepare the PECR documents
with description of available data.
Such data should include the
location map and technical de-
scription of areas being ofered and
schedule of activities for the PECR.
A pre-submission conference
for PECR applications should be
scheduled to discuss relevant rules
and entertain clarications from
prospective applicants.
Submission of applications
should be based on the existing
guidelines.
The evaluation should be based
on legal qualication using a pass or
fail criterion; work program (40%);
technical qualication (20%); and
nancial qualication (40%).
The highest ranked applicant
who meets the... requirements
shall be selected, the circular read.
The legal department and
ERDB should prepare the final
contract that will be awarded.
Applicants, within seven days
from the receipt of the award no-
tice, should pay necessary fees and
charges.
State-owned PNOC Exploration
Corp. (PNOC-EC) has been given a
reserved option to acquire a maxi-
mum of 10% interest in a contract
involving one or more Filipino
participants and 15% for a contract
with no Filipino participant.
All rights, privileges, benets,
costs, expenses, obligations and
liabilities of PNOC-EC shall be
in proportion to its participating
interest in the proposed service
contract, the circular noted.
Previous contractors with can-
celled to terminated contracts due
to outstanding work and nancial
obligations are no longer allowed
to join the PECR.
The circular will take efect f-
teen days following its publication
in two newspapers.
Under the PECR 4 which
took place last year the Energy
department ofered 38 coal and 15
petroleum blocks for exploration
and development.
The auction received 69 bids
for 28 coal contracts and 20 ofers
for 11 petroleum contracts, but the
department only awarded 11 coal
and four petroleum contracts.
Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano
TARIFF lines for steel products are up for possible modifcation.
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S1/3
Infation,
fromS1/ 1
Year-to-date ination averaged
4.2%, still within the BSPs 3-5%
target for 2014.
Central bank Governor Aman-
do M. Tetangco, Jr., in a text mes-
sage to reporters, said the latest re-
sults would help keep the average
inflation over the policy horizon
within the governments [3-5%]
target range.
Moving forward, Mr. Tetangco
said monetary authorities would
continue to monitor global de-
velopments, adding: We will also
be watchful of trends in domestic
liquidity and lending.
He noted that the policy-mak-
ing Monetary Board would make
adjustments to policy levers as
appropriate to ensure that liquid-
ity continues to be channeled to
productive sectors of the economy
and that ination expectation re-
main well-anchored.
During its first policy meet-
ing for the year last Feb. 6, the
Monetary Board kept the BSPs
overnight borrowing and lending
rates at record lows of 3.5% and
5.5%, respectively. The inflation
forecast for this year, however, was
trimmed to 4.3% from 4.5% while
that for 2015 was hiked to 3.3%
from 3.2%.
The BSP has kept its overnight
borrowing and lending rates at
3.5% and 5.5% since October 2012.
The rate on all special deposit ac-
count (SDA) maturities has been
steady at a uniform 2% since June
2013.
Economists were in agreement
that the central bank was likely to
keep key rates steady at its March
27 policy-setting meeting. Tight-
ening, they said, could start in the
second half of the year.
We expect both the policy
overnight rate and the special de-
posit accounts rate to stay steady
through the rst half, as the central
bank has enough space to main-
tain a wait-and-see approach until
its third policy rate meeting, said
Eugenia Fabon Victorino, ANZ
economist for the Asia-Pacic.
We forecast the tightening
cycle to commence by the second
half and expect the interest rate
to rise by at least 50 basis points
(bps) by yearend, she added.
Jef Ng, economist at Standard
Chartered Bank in Hong Kong,
agreed, adding that domestic price
pressures remain in food and en-
ergy.
We expect the central bank
to keep rates unchanged in the
rst half as ination remains man-
ageable. Nonetheless, we expect
a 25-bps hike in the third quarter
and another 25 bps in the fourth
quarter, as price pressures remain
in food and energy, especially with
recent uptrends in international
food and crude oil prices, he said.
Gundy Cahyadi, economist at
DBS Bank Ltd., meanwhile, said
inflation was coming in below
expectations given that some of
the cost-push factors werent as
strong.
We are re-looking at our ina-
tion forecast for the year and we
maintain our stance that the cen-
tral bank will continue to stay put
for now. But we still expect them
to raise rates by at least 50 bps by
yearend to prevent the economy
from overheating, he said.
The PSA, meanwhile, said in a
statement that the February ina-
tion reading was due to slower
annual movements registered in
the indices of alcoholic beverages
and tobacco and transport.
Prices of alcoholic beverages
and tobacco rose by 7.1% in Febru-
ary, easing from 17.6% in January,
while transport costs rose by 1.0%,
down from 1.2%.
Citi economist Jun Trinidad
noted temporary relief from up-
side inflation risk coming from
easing excise tax effects on ciga-
rettes and alcoholic beverages.
Prices of cigarettes and al-
coholic beverages rose by high
double digits last year after excise
taxes were adjusted in January
2013. Taxes will be adjusted again
in 2015.
The heavily weighted food and
non-alcoholic beverages index,
meanwhile, rose by 5.5%, un-
changed from the previous month.
The food alone index, however,
accelerated to 5.9% from 5.7%.
Prices of rice, milk, cheese, eggs,
oils and fats, fruits, sugar, jam,
honey, chocolate, and other food
products rose at a faster pace.
Higher increases were also
recorded in the indices of cloth-
ing and footwear; housing, water,
electricity, gas and other fuels;
furnishing, household equipment
and routine maintenance index;
and health. with a report from
A. R. R. Gregorio
ited outlets in the Philippines were
not immediately available.
He also noted that government
moves to crack down on smugglers
had pushed prices higher. Philip-
pines customs have been on a drive
to curb smuggling that has been rife
as some importers look to avoid a
whopping 40% duty on private ship-
ments of rice and to get around a
quota system.
Critics have long argued the tariff
should be reduced to encourage legal
imports, but President Benigno S.
C. Aquino IIIs government says it is
necessary to support local farmers.
Reuters
Rice,
fromS1/ 1
Debt,
fromS1/ 1
Before President Benigno
S. C. Aquino III took office, GG
debt to GDP was 44.3% in 2009.
By reducing government debt, we
are attempting to ensure the sus-
tainability of our recent economic
resurgence, Finance Secretary
Cesar V. Purisima was quoted as
saying in the statement.
The Aquino administration
continues working towards the
virtuous cycle of good govern-
ance through proactive liability
management. As a result of these
initiatives, we are creating fiscal
space in the budget to increase
investments in our people, our key
driver of economic growth, he
added.
The Finance department said
the annual decline was mainly due
to the national governments pur-
chase of more debt from domestic
sources at cheaper interest and
longer maturities.
Of the total NG debt as of the
third quarter, 66% came from do-
mestic sources and 34% from for-
eign creditors an improvement
from the 61:39 mix recorded in the
comparable 2012 period.
This was likewise reflected in
the overall GG debt mix, which in
the period was at 59:41 in favor of
domestic sources versus the 51%
domestic and 48% foreign mix re-
corded as of September 2012, the
department said.
A decline in Local Government
Unit debt to P70.7 billion, or 0.6%
of GDP, as compared to the Sep-
tember 2012 level of P71.3 billion,
or 0.7% of GDP, also contributed to
the decline in GG debt, it added.
Debt as a percentage of GDP
is a measure used by many debt
watchers to assess the creditwor-
thiness of sovereigns.
Meralco,
fromS1/ 1
setting a timer for air conditioners
before bedtime so that the units
would not have to run the entire
night.
In buying appliances, check
and compare the energy efcien-
cy factor (EEF) of the different
brands, it added, explaining that
a higher EEF means better energy
efciency.
The utilitys announcement of
possible lower March generation
charges comes in the wake of com-
plaints on a bill format that has
caused confusion.
The Energy Regulatory Com-
mission has asked Meralco to ex-
plain the format, which included
components such as the Balance
from Previous Billing, Total Cur-
rent Amount and Total Amount
Due.
The Balance From Previous
Billing covers unpaid amounts
relating to a planned rate hike that
is being reviewed by the Supreme
Court.
A P4.15/kWh increase sup-
posed to have been implemented
in tranches beginning last Decem-
ber has been ordered shelved by
the high court, which is hearing a
complaint led by party-list legis-
lators and consumer groups.
An additional P5.33/kWh rate
hike, also to be charged in stages,
is being sought by Meralco, which
says that this covers unpaid bal-
ances to power suppliers.
Meralco has said that it has no
intention to collect the deferred
amount, which it claimed was
included in the bill only for trans-
parency purposes.
In recognition of the feed-
back we got from our customers,
though, we will make it clearer
in their March bills as to which
amount they will only have to pay.
In addition, the deferred amount
will no longer be included in the
Total Amount Due, the company
said.
Meralco also said that only
7% of its 5.5 million customers
received bills with the deferred
amount itemized, adding that
those who paid in full would be
refunded.
Meralcos controlling stake-
holder, Beacon Electric Asset
Holdings, Inc., is partly owned
by Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Co. (PLDT). Hastings
Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT
Benecial Trust Fund subsidiary
MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a
majority stake in BusinessWorld.
BERKELEY
Reading through
the just-released
transcriptsoftheUS
Federal Reserves
Federal Open Mar-
ket Committee
(FOMC) meetings
in 2008, I found
myself asking the same overarching question: What accounted for the
FOMCs blinkeredmindset as crisis eruptedall aroundit?
To be sure, some understood the true nature of the situation. As Jon
Hilsenrathof the Wall Street Journal points out, WilliamDudley, thenthe
executive vice-president of the NewYork Feds Markets Group, presented
staf research that sought, politely and compellingly, to turn the princi-
pals attention to where it needed to be focused. And FOMC members
Janet Yellen, Donald Kohn, Eric Rosengren, and Frederic Mishkin, along
with the Board of Governors in Washington clearly got the message. But
the FOMCs other eight members, and the rest of the senior staf? Not so
much(albeit to greatly varying degrees).
As I readthe transcripts, I recalledthe long history dating backto1825,
and before, in which the uncontrolled failure of major banks triggered
panic, a ight to quality, the collapse of asset prices, and depression. But
thereintheFOMCs mid-September 2008report, manymembers express
self-congratulation for having found the strength to take the incompre-
hensible decisionnot to bail out LehmanBrothers.
I nd myself thinking back to the winter of 2008, when I stole and
used as much as possible an observation by the economist Larry Sum-
mers. Inthe aftermathof the housing bubbles collapse and extraordinary
losses in the derivatives market, Summers noted, banks would have to
diminishleverage. While it wouldnot matter muchtoany individual bank
whether it did so by reducing its loan portfolio or by raising its capital, it
matteredvery muchto the economy that the banks chose the second.
Eventoday, I cannot comprehendthen-NewYorkFedPresident Timo-
thy Geithners declarationinMarch2008that, it is very hardtomake the
judgment nowthat the nancial systemas a whole or the banking system
as awholeis undercapitalized. Geithners viewat thetimewas that there
is nothing more dangerous... than for people... to feed... concerns about...
the basic core strength of the nancial system. Of course, we now know
that indiference to suchconcerns turnedout to be far more dangerous.
Likewise, I look at history and see that it is core ination (which strips
out volatile food and energy prices), not headline ination, that matters
for predictingfutureination(evenfutureheadlineination). ThenI read
declarations like that by Dallas Federal Reserve President RichardFisher,
that dangerous inationary pressure was building during the summer of
2008, andI ndmyself at a loss.
Some of the 2008-era mindset (most of it?) most likely stemmed from
the fact that there are things that are very real and solid to monetary
economists. We cansee, touch, andfeel howa nancial-deleveraging cycle
depressesaggregatedemand. Weknowthat thisyearschangeinaninertial
price, suchas wages, tells us alot about next years wagechanges, whilethis
years change in a non-inertial price, such as oil, tells us next to nothing.
And we know how herd behavior by investors means that a single salient
bank failure canturna nancial mania intoa panic, andthena crash.
But others donot see, touch, andfeel thesethings. For non-economists,
they are simply shadows onthe walls of a cave.
That distinction was less relevant in the past. The Fed of old usually had
a charismatic, autocratic, professional central banker at its head: Benjamin
Strong, MarrinerEccles, WilliamMcChesneyMartin, Paul Volcker, andAlan
Greenspan. When it worked which was not always true the chair ruled
the FOMC with an iron hand and with the near-lockstep voting support of
the governors. The views of the other members with their varying back-
groundsinbanking, regulation, andelsewherewereof littleor noconcern.
But former Chairman Ben Bernankes FOMC was different. It was
collegial, respectful, andconsensus-oriented. As a result, there was a deep
disconnect between Bernankes policy views, which followed from his
analyses in the 1980s and 1990s of the Great Depression and Japans lost
decades, andtheFOMCs failurein2008tosensewhat was comingandto
guardagainst the major downside risks.
So I nd myself wondering: What if those who understood the nature
of the crisis and those who did not had been compelled to make their
cases toBernanke inprivate? If Bernanke had thensaid, This is what we
are going to do, rather than seeking consensus that is, if Bernankes
Fed had been like the old Fed would better monetary-policy decisions
have been made in 2008?
(The author, a former deputy assistant secretary of the US Treasury, is
Professor of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley and a
research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. www.
project-syndicate.org)
Thursday, March 6, 2014 4/S1 Thursday, March 6, 2014 S1/5 Opinion Opinion
Revisiting
the Feds crisis
Transportation mobility
and sustainability
Game play remains at heart
of changing lifestyles
THE VIEW
FROM TAFT
Brian C. Gozun
ASwe goonour dailygrind of mov-
ing fromour homes to our ofces,
the big T that is trafc has been
getting worse by the minute, by
the hour, by the day, and through
the years. The government,
through the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA)
and other departments, has been
working full-time and overtime
to alleviate this seemingly endless
agony of trafc. The newly coined
term carmageddon, combin-
ing car and Armageddon, is
truly appropriate for the death of
vehicular movement along EDSA
and other major thoroughfares in
the metro. If vehicles do come to a
complete halt, what would happen
to people like us who commute
hours per day using various modes
from cars that have never experi-
enced going beyond 10 kilometers
per hour to trains that have never
ever experienced under-capacity
in their lifetimes?
For commuters, traffic goes
beyond the huge parking lot that
EDSA has become. It is all about
the ability to move from our
homes to our destinations with
ease, comfort, security and, above
all, satisfaction. Our ability to do
our duties to our families, clients,
and friends as we move from one
place to another rests on inclusive
mobility, which is a holistic con-
cept that promotes the movement
from a car-centric paradigm to
more people- and environment-
friendly transportation modes.
Dr. Danielle Guillen, an expert
on transportation policy and plan-
ning from the Ateneo Institute of
Sustainability, espouses inclusive
mobility through the concept of
sustainable transportation, which
entails expansion of levels of ser-
vice, diversication of transporta-
tion modes, a balanced land-use
plan, more efcient use of energy
and low polluting technologies,
reduction of health and safety
risks, reduction of environmental
impact and integrating the con-
cept of social equity and citizen
transportation.
The definition of sustainable
transportation is similar to our
denitionof sustainability inbusi-
ness, which espouses balance not
only in our financials but also in
our relationships with our stake-
holders, community, country,
and Mother Earth. The start of
this so-called carmageddon has
made us more aware of the need
to understand the trade-ofs that
we make as commuters. Should
we take our cars and be part of
the thousands of cars idling along
roads that were once highways in
the not-so-distant past? Should
we take the LRT and MRT in the
wee hours of the morning evenif it
is not yet Simbang Gabi (midnight
mass) season? Should we walk or
even cycle to work even if it means
losing thousands of pesos on our
glutathioneinjections and whiten-
ing soaps, creams, and whatnots?
The risks that we take as we
move from the security of our
homes to the insecurity of our
streets entail the need for trans-
portationsolutions that gobeyond
the construction of roads, which
eventually leads to the increase in
vehicles. Laws, ordinances, rules,
and regulations that have been
tried and tested (and are still being
tweaked) by the MMDA and the
City of Manila will all go to waste
if we do not do our small yet im-
pactful share in alleviating trafc
congestion.
These are the things that ir-
ritate me the most. As a pedes-
trian, I pray my rosary every time
I cross our intersections because
pedestrians and drivers alike have
become terribly colorblind. A few
seconds of waiting will not hurt
as we wait for the trafc lights to
change color! Also, LRT and MRT
management can make the level of
service in our trains a little more
humane. Even sardines would
not want to squeeze themselves
into our sauna-like train carriages
packed with sweating passengers
who can barely breathe. And for
our vehicle-driving commuters,
it would be great if we could car-
pool with friends and family alike
and choose wisely when to use
our cars over cabs. Let us not text
while driving, and let us have hap-
py thoughts to avoid road rage.
Heavy trafc, sad to say, is now
the norm in our metropolis, but
let us all do our part in trying to
alleviate congestion through sus-
tainable transportation.
All aboard, please!
(The author is an associate
professor of the Decision Sciences
and Innovation Department of the
Ramon V. Del Rosario College of
Business of De La Salle University.
Although the author is from the
green school while Dr. Guillen is
fromthe blue school, both universi-
ties adhere to the principles that
Mother Earths cover must forever
be green and her skies and oceans
forever be blue. The green guy can
be reached at brian.gozun@dlsu.
edu.ph. The views expressed above
are the authors and do not neces-
sarily reect the ofcial position of
DLSU, its faculty, and its adminis-
trators.)
SANFRANCISCO For almost as
long as there have been comput-
ers, there have been people intent
in playing games with them.
Since young programmers at
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology came up with Space-
war! some 50 years ago, the world
of videogames has exploded into a
multibillion-dollar industry.
From the earliest days of
computer, these folks went after
computer graphics and went after
videogames, Gartner consumer
technologies research director
Brian Blau told AFP.
People enjoy games, and mar-
rying the concept of real-world
games with a computer and inter-
activity is really powerful.
Gartner predicts the world-
wide videogame market combin-
ing console, online, mobile, and
personal computer offerings will
expand from$101 billion this year
to $111 billion next year and top
$128 billion in 2017.
Whileplayonhigh-performance
desktop or laptop computers has
long captivated hardcore video-
game lovers, rival console makers
Microsoft, Sony, andNintendohave
successfully turned games into
standard family household enter-
tainment during the past 20 years,
with Xbox, PlayStation and Wii
hardware respectively.
CONSOLE KINGS
New-generation Xbox One and
PlayStation 4 consoles released
late last year are credited with
bringing new
life to a section
of the market
under pressure from the popular-
ity of smartphones and tablets.
But Nintendos latest console,
Wii U, has had trouble gaining
traction among players.
Console kings are also the big
names behind titles for play on
their hardware, but third-party
studios such as Activision Bliz-
zard, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft,
Disney Interactive, and Warner
Brothers are established titans in
game software.
While movie-like immersion
in play and broadening entertain-
ment menus to include streamed
films and television shows has
consoles proving their worth, mo-
bile games are on re.
There are more game apps
for smartphones or tablets than
any other type of mini-program
for mobile devices and it is the top
revenue-producing category, ac-
cording to Gartner.
APPS ON FIRE
Smartphones and tablets have
lured players from dedicated
handheld mo-
bile game de-
vices that, for a
time, were a hit with people who
wanted to play on the go.
Mobile game revenues can
come frompeople paying to down-
load apps or fromin-game trans-
actions in which players poney-up
to advance more quickly through
levels or buy abilities or digital
items.
Britain-based King Digital En-
tertainment, which is behind the
Candy Crush Saga game craze,
is set for a keenly anticipated
stock market debut. Other sizzling
mobile game rms include Rovio,
Wooga, and Supercell.
Even Zynga, which pioneered
online social games only to get
caught on its heels when players
turned tomobiledevices, is not out
for the count.
The San Francisco company is
intent on reviving a lineup that
includes Farmville and Words
With Friends along with a popu-
lar Zynga Poker title.
Mobile game revenue globally
is set to nearly double in the next
two years to $22 billion, according
to Gartner.
SPECTATOR SPORT
A new and ourishing eSport cat-
egory in which videogame play
is spectator sport complete with
commentators, sponsors and ads
has yet to be factored into the
global videogame revenue model.
Computer graphics represent
a new interaction paradigm, Blau
said. Todays high-detail graphics
and more immersive experiences
are almost science ction-like.
Innovations in game hardware
and software fromInternet-linked
eyewear to augmented reality pro-
grams are expected tofuel increas-
ing demand for play.
Too late
the ( justice) hero
STRATEGIC
PERSPECTIVE
Ren B. Azurin
IS SENATE President Franklin
Drilon already trying to create
some distance between himself
and his boss, President Aquino,
perhaps to re-insinuate himself
into the conversation on viable
presidential or vice-presidential
candidates for the 2016 elections?
When, last weekend, he publicly
assailed the Sandiganbayans
slow disposition of cases, he was
clearly contradicting party mate
Aquino who boasted recently, We
are moving closer to obtaining
true justice through the cases led
against those who have committed
crimes... (and) We are destroying
the last bastions of corruption.
Since observers had jeered the
Presidents boasts as patently ri-
diculous, it may be that Mr. Drilon
is now trying to curry favor with a
public openly frustrated at the tai
chi-like movement of justice in
this country.
Maybe Mr. Dri l on wants
to paint himself as the justice
champion. The hero who rides
into town and, with six-guns
blazing, brings back law and
order to the lawless frontier.
The long-sought answer to the
peoples prayers. If so, its not
a bad image to cultivate for an
aspiring president or vice-presi-
dent. The problem is persuading
people that the image is even
credible. And, as far as thats
concerned, one could reason-
ably argue that in some 28 years
in the public service as sena-
tor, Senate president (twice),
and Justice secretary (twice)
Mr. Drilon has had more than
enough chances to do the save-
the-people bit and implement
his Justice Agad ( justice at
once) vision. But, in fact, as a
long-time member of the Sen-
ate and several years as its
leader it is hard for him to
claim not to have at least sanc-
tioned assuming, charitably,
that he wasnt actually a part of
all the pork barrel scams and
influence peddling going on all
around him all these years.
Mr. Drilon is quoted as say-
ing, If we are to outrun graft and
corruption, it is imperative that
we resuscitate and recondition
our existing prosecutorial and
adjudicatory institutions against
this opponent. Sure. Of course.
But many reform advocates have
been saying the same thing for
years. And those in positions of
power to institute meaningful
improvements to our law en-
forcement and legal system like
Mr. Drilon have typically, over
the years, just played deaf, dumb,
and suspiciously blind.
If anything can illustrate viv-
idly the gaping holes in our justice
system, it is the pork barrel scam
investigations that the President
(strangely) imagines must dem-
onstrate his administrations com-
mitment to a campaign against
corruption and to a daang matu-
wid (straight path). Eight months
after it was rst exposed bya news-
paper (the Inquirer) note, not by
a law enforcement body or justice
ofcial there has been virtually
nothing happening in the subject
case other than press conferences
and televised hearings in the Sen-
ate that are no more than occa-
sions for posturing senators to lay
out for the public their intellectual
shortcomings.
Irritatingly, moreover, the cur-
rent Justice secretary, Atty. Leila
de Lima, maybe mirroring her
boss, boasts in media statements
of slam dunk evidence and yet
cannot explain why no one has
thus far been arrested, much less
COMMENTARY
J. Bradford DeLong
China, S1/ 5
China
fromS1/ 4
ANSHUN, China After a lifetime
of farming and mining in the hills
of southwest China, Zhang Zongfu
was thrust intosubsidized housing
closer to town, and into a monu-
mental urbanization drive aimed
at boosting growth.
Zhang likes his newly built digs,
which are efectively free, but city
life has been harder to settle into.
The 48-year-old villager lacks job
skills or prospects putting a ma-
jor wrinkle in Beijings blueprint
for prosperity.
Without work Im in trouble,
he said in his living room, over-
looking neat rows of freshly paint-
ed apartment blocks onthe edge of
Anshun in Guizhou, one of Chinas
poorest provinces.
The house is fine. But if you
have a house to live in and cant
feed yourself, whats the point?
he asked.
Zhangs situation illustrates
thedevelopmental dilemma facing
China as its rubberstamp parlia-
ment, the National Peoples Con-
gress, meets this week.
Economic growth and rising
prosperity are key to the Commu-
nist Partys claimto a right to rule,
and the legislators will put their
imprimatur on
reforms it has
promised.
By 2030, projections say a bil-
lion Chinese will live in cities
up 300 million from now, nearly
equal to the population of the
United States.
Beijing hopes that if the urban
inux earn and spend more it will
both reduce poverty faster and
help switch the economy to grow-
ing through consumption rather
than investment.
But if local governments simply
build the shells of cities with no
economy that former farmers can
participate in, they may simply be
digging a deeper investment hole
and creating neighborhoods full
of idle inhabitants.
This is certainly something
Ive seen in other places, where
you have people cut of from the
way theyve made their living their
entire life. Then theres nothing
really that they can do, said Tom
Miller, the Beijing-based author of
Chinas Urban Billion.
And if this
ha ppe ns on
a grand scale
across the country, then poten-
tially youre building up enormous
problems, hesaid. Thats thefear,
if you look 10 to 15 years ahead.
Guizhou is constructing 180
sites to resettle two million people
by 2020, surpassing even the 1.3
million relocated for the vast
Three Gorges Dam.
But while the first batches of
villagers have been taken to their
newwhite-trimhomes in Anshun,
it has not yet taken the country-
side out of the villagers.
Several said they missed the se-
curity of growing their own food.
Just in case, Zhang and his wife
who heaved a basket packed with
vegetables up four ights of stairs
to their apartment have filled
one of their three bedrooms with
giant sacks of rice.
NOWAYTOGOBACK
Under Xi Jinping the Communist
party has promised to speed up
changes to a hukou residency
systemwhich denies rural incom-
ers equal access to services such as
schooling and healthcare.
But specifics are still pending
and cities, especially large and
crowded ones, have resisted lifting
hukou restrictions and spending
more on migrants.
Experts call such reforms criti-
cal, as a social safety net would
encouragemigrants tospend more
and better education would im-
prove the prospects of the next
generation.
Relocated villagers in Anshun
complained that government of-
cials promised compensation and
jobs but, since the move in June
2013, have only provided a few
days training on smarter farming.
ANALYSIS
Chinas urban drive risks
digging economic hole
tried and convicted. Further, for
the last ve months, the Ofce of
the Ombudsman has been inves-
tigating the evidence but has yet
to le a case against those accused
in this massive plunder of the
peoples money.
My, my. The Filipino people
are well in their rights to throw
up their hands in sheer exaspera-
tion and ask, is this slow motion,
snail-paced, tai chi-like move-
ment at all appropriate for the
administration of justice in a
society? And, are the drawn-out,
protracted, purported investiga-
tions into the pork barrel scam
not actually an attempt to just
limit the damage and cover up the
involvement of key administra-
tion allies?
President Aquino is clearly
delusional if he thinks his govern-
ment has adequately demonstrat-
ed its stand with justice, honesty,
and accountability or that he is
shaping a better society for a
justice-deprived Filipino people.
Indeed, he has yet to answer sat-
isfactorily the question, what are
these so-called reforms you say
you have instituted?
Mr. Drilon is reported to have
lamented the fact that the San-
diganbayan takes an average of
seven years to decide a case, from
the ling of the information to the
promulgation of judgment, He
then is said to have added, rather
superuously, Such a drawn-out
process of litigation is injustice in
itself. The people donot need him
to tell themthat.
From a wider perspective,
though, Mr. Drilon is guilty of
selective targeting because the
glaring faults in our justice sys-
tem encompass more than just
the Sandiganbayan. According to
the Davide-era Action Program
for Judicial Reform, the crucial
issues that need to be addressed
if we are to have a justice sys-
tem that is fair, accessible and
efficient, independent and self-
governed are: i) case congestion
and delay, ii) budget deficiencies,
iii) the politicized system of ju-
dicial appointments, iv) the lack
of judicial autonomy, v) human
resource inadequacies, vi) dys-
functional administrative struc-
ture and operating systems, vii)
insufficient public information
and collaboration with society,
viii) perceived corruption in the
judiciary, and ix) limited access
to justice by the poor. To that, one
has to add other elements neces-
sary to bring about reform in our
system for bringing lawbreakers
to justice. These would include
programs and equipment invest-
ments to enhance law enforce-
ment capabilities (for the preven-
tion and solution of crimes) and
to improve correction facilities
(for the punishment and reha-
bilitation of criminals). Action is
such areas is directly within the
sole power of the President and,
four years into Mr. Aquinos ad-
ministration, nothing significant
has been done in this connection.
Buying the police Glock pistols
does not qualify as institutional
reform.
Indisputably, since Mr. Aquino
has not taken meaningful action
to introduce reforms in the areas
that he has repeatedly stressed
are the focus of his administration
corruption and lack of justice
then he can no longer qualify as
the peoples hero and savior. Thus,
perhaps, the attempt by Aquino
ally (and once-rabid Arroyo sup-
porter) Drilon to begin to portray
himself nowinthat role. It is prob-
ably much too late.
Several ridiculed the idea, say-
ing they had left their land and
sold their farming equipment.
Theres no way to go back and
farm, said 60-year-old Nuo Min-
gsheng. Its too far away, the land
has not been cultivated, the farm-
ing tools are gone, the houses have
been dug up.
Right now Im living off the
farming tools and other things I
sold from my old home, and Im
not sure what Ill do after that,
he said.
For urbanisation to work local
authorities will have to adapt to
reality, said University of Wash-
ington professor KamWing Chan.
With some exceptions, he
said, Local bureaucrats are very
bureaucratic, they just follow
the plan without seriously con-
sidering the local situation.
But the trend of urbanisation
is inexorable, especially among
young people, said Jonathan
Woetzel, a Shanghai-based direc-
tor at consultancy McKinsey and
Company and co-chair of the Ur-
ban China Initiative.
Even without a job guarantee
or hukou reform, he pointed out,
it hasnt stopped anybody from
migrating so far.
As productivity increases you
expect to see better standards of
living, he said.
Yet back in Anshun, Guo Taifu, a
43-year-oldformerminer, wondered
howhewouldsupport his threechil-
dren. Ofcials had ofered work at a
construction site but villagers con-
sideredthepaytoolow, hesaid.
Imworried, period.
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By Carol Huang AFP
FEATURE
TORKHAM GATE, Afghanistan
Trundling across the Afghan-
Pakistani border in a handcart,
Shayma dismisses militant
threats and conspiracy theories
about polio vaccinators while her
four children receive drops that
could nally eradicate the crip-
pling disease.
About 1.3 million oral vacci-
nations are administered every
year to children at the Torkham
Gate crossing, the focal point of
an intense global campaign to
eradicate polio by 2018.
But Afghanistan and Pakistan
two of the three remaining en-
demic polionations faceatough
task due to ghting on either side
of the border, Taliban opposition
to vaccinations and rumors that
the drops could cause impotency.
Families hurrying through
the Torkham mountain pass are
diverted down a channel where
health workers deftly deliver two
liquid drops into the mouths of all
children aged under ve.
We want the vaccinations so
that my children dont become
disabled, Shayma told AFP from
behind an all-enveloping blue
burqa as she headed home from
Peshawar in Pakistan to the Af-
ghan city of Jalalabad.
It is not true that the vacci-
nation is bad. I dont agree with
this, she said. I believe it stops
polio.
Pakistan is a major concern for
anti-polio experts with 93 cases
last year, up from 58 in 2012.
Vaccinators have been shot
dead, bombed or taken hostage in
Peshawar, Karachi and elsewhere,
and some anti-polio programs
have been suspended.
Twelve people were killed and
11 injured when three roadside
bombs targeting a polio vaccina-
tion team in Pakistans restive
northwest exploded Saturday.
The Pakistan Taliban oppose
immunisation, saying it is a cover
for US spying, and some people be-
lieve it is also a plot to poison Mus-
limchildrenandcause infertility.
Polios last stand on the Afghan-Pakistan border
By Ben Sheppard AFP
By Glenn Chapman AFP
While Afghanistan has had
notable success in tackling polio,
with 80 cases in 2011 and just 14
in 2013, eradication may be a long
way of due to the constant ood
of people back and forth across
the porous border.
SOME FAMILIES REFUSE
VACCINE
It does pose a big challenge in
trying to ensure each and every
child is vaccinated every sin-
gle time, UNICEF spokesman
Kshitij Joshi said.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are
the same epidemiological block
and it is important that children
on either side of the border are
vaccinated to ensure absolute pro-
tection.
Vacci nat ed chi l dren are
marked on the thumb with a pen
that lasts one month, but catch-
ing every child is nearly impos-
sible in the crush of people on
the colonial-era
frontier, which
is not officially
recognised by Afghanistan.
The vaccine is voluntary and
is rejected by some families. One
elderly man shouted at health
workers and refused to allow his
child to receive drops.
Sometimes we find a person
like this, but the majority of
people know that it is good, said
vaccination supervisor Asifullah
who, like many Afghans, only uses
one name.
In Jalalabad city, on the main
road to Kabul, UNICEF also tar-
gets migrant communities who
move regularly between the two
count r i es i n
search of work.
One father
living in a makeshift tent said he
had been told that the drops had
a bad efect and would make his
children naughty.
After a discussion, UNICEF fe-
male coordinator Rana persuaded
him to allow his family to receive
the vaccine.
Female volunteers are crucial
to the anti-polio campaign as they
areabletoenter privatehomes, but
they cant access more dangerous
areas inthe Afghanborder region.
It is difcult for women to go
to several districts, said Rana.
We are not allowed as the secu-
rity is not good.
Taliban militants in southern
Afghanistan generally support
vaccination a result, says UNI-
CEF, of years of work ensuring
that the program is seen as strict-
ly neutral.
But in Pakistan and some
parts of eastern Afghanistan, the
Taliban have stopped vaccinators
reaching children in key polio
enclaves.
The Taliban in Kunar and
Nangarhar provinces oppose
the vaccinations, so we have
20,000 children there who have
been unvaccinated for several
months, Faizullah Kakar, the
Afghan presidents polio special-
ist, told AFP.
These places are near Kabul,
so we are very nervous that if it
gets to the capital it could spread
quickly.
The risk was highlighted last
month when Kabul recorded its
rst polio case since 2001 after a
three-year-old girl was diagnosed,
probably due to her father carry-
ing the disease from Pakistan.
TACKLING TALIBAN
PROPAGANDA
The problem is rstly the Tali-
ban, but it is also refugees in Ku-
nar who are somehow convinced
that vaccinations are not good for
their children and they also tell
local Afghans not to vaccinate,
said Kakar.
We stopped three FM radio
stations from constantly broad-
casting propaganda against the
polio campaign.
And we try to halt books circu-
lating that pick bits of science and
claim that vaccines are from pig
products or cause infertility.
The Taliban use how Osama
bin Laden was found (in part
through a fake vaccination pro-
gram), so they say it is about spy-
ing.
Worldwide, polio is now re-
stricted to two endemic areas
the Afghan-Pakistan border and
northern Nigeria.
But unless vaccination at key
points such as Torkham Gate
succeeds in stamping polio out
completely, the risk of outbreaks
in other countries will always re-
main.
For Kakar, there is one main
obstacle to ridding the world of
a highly contagious disease that
easily preventable but impossible
to cure.
If we have peace here, we
would hope to end polio very
soon, he said. Without peace, it
is a lot more uncertain.
AN Afghan man pushes a cart transporting his family as they cross over the border from Pakistan at the main Torkham border in Nagarhar Province on Feb. 23. More than 1.3
million vaccinations are administered every year to children crossing at Torkham Gate, a focal point of the global campaign to eradicate polio by 2018.
AFP
FEATURE
RURAL residents doing their washing near the city of Anshun, Guizhou Province, China
on Feb. 20. Chinas leaders have pledged to better integrate the rural migrants pouring
into cities but who are often kept on the margins and denied government assistance.
AFP
Thursday, March 6, 2014 6/S1 Corporate News
Separate brands maintained
By Claire-Ann M. C. Feliciano
Reporter
No sense seen in merging Maxs, Pancake House menus
JONATHAN L. CELLONA
MAXs Group President Robert F. Trota (right), concurrent president and chief executive offcer of Pancake House, Inc., and Jim T.
Fuentebella, Maxs Group branding director and a director of Pancake House, pose after their press conference yesterday at The
Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City.
MAXs Group of Companies is
rming up strategies on growing
the newly acquired restaurant
chain of Pancake House, Inc.,
building on synergies between
them even as it keeps existing
brands separate, company ofcials
said in a brieng yesterday at The
Peninsula Manila in Makati City.
Maxs Group President Robert
F. Trota, who also now sits as presi-
dent and chief executive officer
(CEO) of listed Pancake House,
said synergies are being explored
to leverage Maxs and Pancake
House brands.
Both brands are positioned
for growth. Right now we are in
the process of rming up numbers
in terms of growth strategy, Mr.
Trota said when asked on expan-
sion plans.
PLANS
Mr. Trota said Maxs Group will
continue opening 10-15 stores
composed of Maxs Restaurant,
Krispy Kreme and Jamba Juice
every year.
At the same time, the group
which has a network of 13 Maxs
Restaurants overseas plans to
open six more stores in the Middle
East in the next two years, the same
official said. We do plan to open
six more stores in the Middle East
in the next year or two, he said,
adding this would add to its three
existing branches in that region.
For North America, where the
company has 10 stores, Mr. Trota
said: We are continuously looking
for opportunities in North Ameri-
ca. This is all part of the expansion
plan.
We are also looking at other
Asian countries, but we havent set
our foot there. We are maximizing
our resources by growing where
we already are, he added.
Maxs Group has over 150 stores
here and abroad. Founders of
homegrown Maxs Restaurant also
introduced international brands
Krispy Kreme and Jamba Juice in
the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Pancake House
Group has 105 outlets of its ag-
ship Pancake House brand. It also
has close to 300 outlets of other
brands: Dencios, Kabisera ng
Dencios, Teriyaki Boy, Sizzlin
Pepper Steak, Le Coeur De France,
The Chicken Rice Shop, Maple and
Yellow Cab.
Now that were working with
the Pancake House Group, we are
looking at how we are going to
grow the Pancake House and Yel-
low Cab [brands], Mr. Trota said.
He said the company will con-
duct strategic planning with key
individuals of Pancake House
Group to draw up an expansion
strategy and set targets.
Were going to be there to grow
the business. Its something were
working with the diferent CEOs
of the brands, Mr. Trota added.
Maxs Group last Feb. 25 com-
pleted its acquisition of an 89.95%
interest in Pancake House and
promptly assumed leadership of
the listed rm.
The acquisition involved pur-
chase of 193,183,967 privately held
shares of Pancake House from
former principal shareholders and
a tender ofer for 39,967,233 pub-
licly held shares.
Asked on plans to infuse Maxs
Groups assets into Pancake House
leading to a backdoor listing of
the former Mr. Trota replied:
It was more of a strategic acquisi-
tion.
Whether it was listed or not,
we would still buy it.
The ofcial also said there are
no plans for now to consolidate the
two restaurant networks into one
holding rm.
Well keep the two groups sep-
arate and run them as they are,
Mr. Trota stressed.
There are advantages in keep-
ing them separate. We can still
create synergies among the two,
he added.
We almost have similar cost
structures: cost of sales, labor,
and expenses. We will try to lever-
age on that so we can bring down
costs, he explained.
Shared services like IT (infor-
mation technology) can be imple-
mented. We have our separate HR
(human resource) directors so
they could collaborate and come
up with best practices that can
benet both groups.
Jim T. Fuentebella, Maxs
Group branding director and a
director of Pancake House, said
made more sense to keep the iden-
tity of each brand intact.
People go to these brands. It
doesnt make business sense for
us to merge all recipes together.
Thats the core of the businesses
and that is what will make them
strong, Mr. Fuentebella ex-
plained.
I think the idea is understand-
ing each brand really well and
adapting to changes but never
forgetting what makes each of the
brands so special.
Pancake House recorded a net
income of P116.11 million as of
September last year, up by 53.02%
from P75.88 million in the same
nine months in 2012. Revenues
grew 8% to P2.7 billion from P2.5
billion, while cost of sales rose
5.82% to P2.18 billion from P2.06
billion. Its shares ended at P23.25
apiece yesterday, down P8.75 or
27.35% from P32 each on Tuesday.
By Daryll Edisonn D. Saclag
Reporter
EMPERADOR Distillers Inc.,
the liquor arm of Alliance Global
Group, has inked an agreement
with United Kingdom-based
multinational alcoholic beverage
maker Diageo to bring the latters
brands here, the Andrew L. Tan-
led rm yesterday said in a state-
ment attached to a disclosure.
Emperador Distillers, Inc., the
largest distilled spirits company
in the Philippines, and Diageo, the
worlds leading premium drinks
business, have signed an agree-
ment to bring world-iconic brands
to the Philippines, read the dis-
closure.
The partnership signals op-
portunities for growth in the al-
coholic drinks sector driven by
the Philippines thriving economy
and a rapidly growing middle class
that is expected to almost double
by 2020.
No other details of the agree-
ment were provided nor were of-
ficials immediately available for
comment.
Diageo, according to its Web
site, produces Johnnie Walker,
Crown Royal, J&B, Windsor, Bu-
chanans and Bushmills whiskies;
Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One
vodkas; as well as Baileys, Captain
Morgan, Tanqueray and Guinness.
Emperador, in May 2012,
bought the manufacturing facility
of the Philippine unit of Diageo
in Laguna to increase production
and enhance competitiveness.
Emperador is the company be-
hind its namesake brandy, Gener-
oso Brandy and The BaR avored
vodka.
Its lineup also includes Em-
perador Deluxe Spanish Edition
brandy, which it produces in Spain
and which it introduced in the
Philippines in March last year, as
well as E&J Gallo wines which it
imports from California. It also
distributes potato snack products
under the Pik-Nik brand.
Its net income grew by nearly a
fth to P5.8 billion last year from
P5 billion in 2012 as revenues
surged 25.6% to P29.6 billion from
P23.6 billion.
Its sales volume, however,
climbed just 7% due to the impact
of higher excise tax implemented
last year.
[But] with a sales volume of 33
million cases, Emperador main-
tains its position as the worlds
largest selling brandy brand in
2013, aside from being the larg-
est liquor company in the Philip-
pines, the company had claimed
in a disclosure last month.
To further boost sales, Empera-
dor said it will be spending some P4
billion this year to expand produc-
tion capacity in the Philippines.
Moreover, the company said it
has invested P5.8 billion, so far, in
vineyards, distilleries and bodegas
in Spain.
Grupo Emperador Spain S.A.,
a subsidiary of Emperador, last
month agreed to invest P3.7 billion
for a 50% interest in Bodega Las
Copas S.L., a company owned by
Gonzales Byass S.A. Emperador
had described Bodega Las Copas
as a fully integrated brandy pro-
duction company that owns and
operates a vineyard near Toledo,
a distillery in Tomelloso, Ciudad
Real province, and brandy produc-
tion premises in Jerez.
Grupo Emperador, in October
last year, acquired a 49-hectare
(ha) of vineyard land in the prov-
ince of Madrid, Spain, bringing the
total area of its vineyards in that
country to nearly 1,000 ha.
Emperador is a subsidiary of
Alliance Global, which is into food
and beverage business, real estate,
hotel and gaming, and quick ser-
vice restaurants.
Its shares added 16 centavos or
1.38% to end P11.74 apiece yester-
day from P11.58 each on Tuesday.
Emperador teams up
with producer
of Johnnie Walker
ABS-CBN Corp. has borrowed
P1.65 billion to renance debt, the
Lopez-owned broadcaster said in a
brief disclosure yesterday.
ABS-CBN Corp. obtained a
four-year term loan of P1.65 bil-
lion from Security Bank Corp. on
Feb. 28. The loans interest rate is
4.25% per annum, the disclosure
read, adding that the company had
secured last Jan. 30 approval of its
board of directors for the debt.
It said debt proceeds will be
used to renance its P1.65-billion
loan with Security Bank, and that
the latest transaction was ar-
ranged by SB Capital Investment
Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary
of Security Bank.
Yesterdays disclosure also put
ABS-CBNs total outstanding debt
at P20.364 billion.
The broadcaster has also been
raising funds to nance its growth
initiatives.
Last Jan. 28, it raised an initial
P6 billion from the sale of seven-
year retail corporate bonds with
annual interest rate of 5.335%.
The sale was the first tranche of
up to P10 billion in such debt the
Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion approved for ABS-CBN the
preceding week.
The rm stated in a SEC ling
on Jan. 21 that earnings from the
bond sale would be used to grow
its core businesses, diversify rev-
enues sources and widen its distri-
bution network, adding that bal-
ance (of the planned bond sale)
shall be issued within one year.
The broadcaster reported in
November last year that its net
income rose 22% to P1.891 billion
as of September from P1.555 bil-
lion in the same nine months in
2012, as consolidated revenues
grew 16% to P25.227 billion from
P21.791 billion.
ABS-CBN shares gained P1.00
or 3.45% to end P30 apiece yes-
terday from P29 each on Monday.
AJMS
Lopez broadcaster
borrows P1.65 billion
PHINMA Corp. swung to prot
last year on the back of most of its
units performance, the company
said in a statement attached to a
disclosure yesterday.
Specifically, it ended last year
with a consolidated net income
of P261.7 million, compared to a
loss of P91.6 million in 2012. Net
income attributable to controlling
shareholders amounted to P224
million in 2013.
Revenues increased by 6% an-
nually to P4.8 billion.
Revenues of Union Galvasteel
Corp. climbed 9% to P3.171 billion
from P2.911 billion, leading to a
48% annual improvement in net
income to P103.8 million.
A 16% hike in enrollment to
31,114 students drove Phinma
Education Networks (PEN) net
income to rise by more than half
to P160.8 million from P103.9 mil-
lion. In early 2013, PEN expanded
Cagayan de Oro College, Inc.s
Basic Education Department and
established a new Araullo Univer-
sity campus in Cabanatuan, the
statement explained.
It also said equitized income
of Trans-Asia Oil and Energy
Development Corp. rose 22% to
P150.2 million from P123.5 mil-
lion.
Phinma Property Holdings
Corp., which is into affordable
housing, grew revenue 18% to
P1.042 billion but ended the year
with a modest P15.5-million net
income.
Finally, competitive intelli-
gence consultancies Fuld & Co.
and Fuld Philippines grew com-
bined revenues by 10% to P519.8
million from P471.3 million, but
ended 2013 with a P35-million
combined net loss mainly due
to one-of expenses to launch re-
search business in Asia.
PROFIT of listed Atlas Consoli-
dated Mining and Development
Corp. fell last year under the
weight of foreign exchange losses
and lower world metal prices, the
rm said in a statement attached
to its disclosure yesterday.
Net income dropped 45% to
P1.896 billion from P3.434 billion
even as core net income edged up
4% to P2.616 billion from P2.526
billion, according to unaudited
nancial and operating highlights
contained in the statement.
The lower net income, the
miner explained, was due mainly
to recognition of an unrealized
foreign exchange loss of P1.02 bil-
lion on US dollar-denominated
debts versus the P593-million
gain the previous year.
The groups debt obligations
are mostly US dollar-denominated
to match US dollar revenues, the
company explained in its state-
ment.
This establishes a natural
hedge against foreign exchange
uctuations. Thus, when US dollar
debts are settled using US dollar
cash reserves of the group, there
is no realizable foreign exchange
efect.
Core net income, however,
which strips out foreign exchange
and market-to-market adjust-
ments, rose 4% to P2.62 billion.
Without the efect of the un-
realized foreign exchange loss,
net income would have reached
P2.92 billion in 2013 and P2.84
billion in 2012, translating to a 3%
increase year on year, the state-
ment read.
Lower metal prices, Atlas Min-
ing said, resulted in a 7% decline
in revenues to P14.451 billion from
P15.540 billion.
This fall was tempered by an
8% drop in operating cash cost to
P9.046 billion from P9.798 billion.
The company noted that real-
ized price of copper dropped 9%
annually to an average of $3.30
per pound while realized price of
gold decreased 17% year on year to
$1,385 per ounce.
The company said its wholly
owned Carmen Copper Corp. saw
a 2% increase in total production
to 91.51 million pounds of copper
metal concentrate from 89.92 mil-
lion pounds.
The subsidiary also raised aver-
age daily milling capacity by 4% to
43,010 tons per day (tpd) with
a record peak milling capacity of
50,000 tpd reached in July last
year.
Volume of shipments of cop-
per mental concentrate, however,
slipped 1% to 90.56 million pounds
from 91.41 million pounds, Atlas
Mining also said.
On the other hand, volume of
gold metal in concentrate soared
51% to 19,555 ounces from 12,930
ounces.
Our strategy to optimize pro-
duction and reduce cost is paying
of as we are able to grow our core
income in 2013 despite weaker
metal prices, the statement
quoted Atlas Mining Executive
Vice-President Adrian S. Ramos
as saying.
The company said it embarked
on a P5.4-billion expansion pro-
gram last year to increase Carmen
Coppers 40,000-tpd capacity by
50% to 60,000 tpd. Initial com-
missioning of the project, as an-
nounced last month, yielded posi-
tive results.
We are very excited as we near
the completion of our expansion
project. With higher production
capacity, we will achieve econo-
mies of scale that will position us
to be even more competitive in the
future, Mr. Ramos said.
Last month, Atlas Mining
announced that the expanded
processing plant was expected to
be fully operational within this
month.
Carmen Copper which first
bared plans to upgrade its milling
facility within its complex in Cebu
in 2012 engages in metallic min-
ing and mineral exploration.
It operates copper mines in
Toledo City in Cebu which pri-
marily produce copper metal
concentrate, gold and silver for
export.
Shares of its parent gained 20
centavos or 1.27% to P15.98 apiece
yesterday. Claire-Ann Marie
C. Feliciano
FIVE MORE hydropower plants
with combined capacity 82.85
megawatts (MW) will proceed to
construction stage after the En-
ergy department declared these
projects commercially feasible.
Data posted on the depart-
ments Web site showed that new
certicates conrming commerci-
ality of the projects were awarded
in the last two months.
Specifically, the Energy de-
partment gave the green light for
construction of two projects in
Benguet: Cordillera Hydro Elec-
tric Power Corp.s 60-MW plant on
a site straddling the municipalities
of Kapangan and Kibungan; as well
as Hedcor, Inc.s 3.8-MW plant in
Tuba town.
QuadRiver Energy Corp. se-
cured similar certificates for its
11-MW Tinoc 2 and 8-MW Tinoc 3
projects located in the town of Ti-
noc in Ifugao province. QuadRiver
last year received a similar certi-
cate for its 4.1-MW Tinoc 1 plant.
A 50-kilowatt project of Phil-
Carbon, Inc. in Zamboanga City
was also certified by the Energy
department.
The new projects add to the
25 hydropower projects with
combined capacity of 225.55 MW
that were allowed to proceed to
construction stage last year.
The department is still evaluat-
ing declarations of commerciality
of 23 more hydropower projects.
Mario C. Marasigan, the En-
ergy departments director for
Renewable Energy Management
Bureau, said last year that de-
velopers who receive certicates
confirming declaration of com-
merciality can proceed with
construction of their renewable
energy projects.
The conrmation also signies
that these projects are intended to
be applied under the FIT (feed-in
tarif) once they nish construc-
tion and start their commercial
operations.
Under FIT, renewable energy
developers will dispatch the ca-
pacity of their projects to the grid
at a fixed rate for a period of 20
years. The Energy Regulatory
Commission approved, in July last
year, FIT rates for run-of-river
hydro (P5.90 per kilowatt-hour);
bi omass (P6. 63/kWh); wi nd
(P8.53/kWh); and solar (P9.68/
kWh). The rates are based on the
assigned installation ceilings per
technology, which total 750 MW.
Run-of-river hydro and biomass
projects had been allocated 250
MW each; wind power got 200
MW; and solar power, 50 MW.
Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano
Forex losses, lower prices weigh on miners bottom line
More hydro plants to be built
Subsidiaries
buoy Phinmas
2013 profit
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S1/7 Property&Infrastructure
Project Concreting of various Colony Roads
Requirements 1. General requirements
2. DPWH contractors registration documents
Proponent DPWH, Cagayan Second District Engineering Office,
Libertad, Abulug, Cagayan
Estimated Cost P9.65 million
Project Duration 75 calendar days
Important Dates 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents is from February 25 to
March 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
2. Pre-Bid Conference is on March 6, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.
3. Receipt of Bids is on March 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids is on March 18, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.
Important Notes 1. Only registered contractors at Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) can participate.
2. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents to
eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee
of TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00).
3. Unregistered contractors may submit their LOIs and their
application for registration to the DPWH POCW Central
Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOIs.
4. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will first process the
contractors applications for registration and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC) before
processing their LOIs.
5. The DPWH, Cagayan Second District Engineering Offce,
Libertad, Abulug, Cagayan reserves the right to accept
or reject any bids, annul the bidding process anytime
before Contract award, without incurring any liability to
the affected bidders.
Project Concreting of Sitio Dugo Road
Requirements 1. General requirements
2. DPWH contractors registration documents
Proponent DPWH, Cagayan Second District Engineering Office,
Libertad, Abulug, Cagayan
Estimated Cost P7.72 million
Project Duration 75 calendar days
Important Dates 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents is from February 25 to
March 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
2. Pre-Bid Conference is on March 6, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.
3. Receipt of Bids is on March 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids is on March 18, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.
Important Notes 1. Only registered contractors at Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) can participate.
2. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents to
eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee
of TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00).
3. Unregistered contractors may submit their LOIs and their
application for registration to the DPWH POCW Central
Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOIs.
4. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will first process the
contractors applications for registration and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC) before
processing their LOIs.
5. The DPWH, Cagayan Second District Engineering Offce,
Libertad, Abulug, Cagayan reserves the right to accept
or reject any bids, annul the bidding process anytime
before Contract award, without incurring any liability to
the affected bidders.
Project Construction/Concreting of various Roads, Alubug,
Cagayan
Requirements 1. General requirements
2. DPWH contractors registration documents
Proponent DPWH, Cagayan Second District Engineering Office,
Libertad, Abulug, Cagayan
Estimated Cost P9.00 million
Project Duration 75 calendar days
Important Dates 1. Issuance of Bidding Documents is from February 25 to
March 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
2. Pre-Bid Conference is on March 6, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.
3. Receipt of Bids is on March 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
4. Opening of Bids is on March 18, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.
Important Notes 1. Only registered contractors at Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) can participate.
2. The BAC will issue hard copies of Bid Documents to
eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee
of TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00).
3. Unregistered contractors may submit their LOIs and their
application for registration to the DPWH POCW Central
Offce before the deadline for the receipt of LOIs.
4. The DPWH Central BAC-TWG will first process the
contractors applications for registration and issue the
Contractors Certifcate of Registration (CRC) before
processing their LOIs.
5. The DPWH, Cagayan Second District Engineering Offce,
Libertad, Abulug, Cagayan reserves the right to accept
or reject any bids, annul the bidding process anytime
before Contract award, without incurring any liability to
the affected bidders.
BIDDING SCHEDULE
LISTED real estate developer
Century Properties Group, Inc.
has completed and turned over the
third tower at Azure Urban Resort
Residences, its six-hectare beach-
inspired condominium project in
Paraaque City, the company said
in a statement last Tuesday.
Azures central amenity space
Paris Beach Club and the first
phase of Azure Beach have also
been completed and will ofcially
open in the middle this month, the
company added.
The first two towers of Azure
Rio and Santorini which were
completed last year have a total of
1,700 units.
The third Azure tower, St. Tro-
pez, will turn over close to 600
units within the month.
Completion of Azures first
three of nine buildings represents
36% of total units planned for the
entire beach-themed project.
As of the third quarter of 2013,
Azure had pre-sold 98% or over
4,000 of its launched units.
The entire project was launched
in 2010.
Azures strength lies in its de-
livery of a permanent residence
within a beach resort environ-
ment. Filipinos all over the world
fully embraced the concept,
because to us, life by the beach
provides a relaxing and reward-
ing experience. We are proud to
say that the Azure residents will
fully experience this unique de-
velopment concept very soon,
the statement quoted Century
Properties Chief Operating Ofcer
John Victor R. Antonio as saying.
All towers at Azure are named
after popular beach destinations.
Apart from Rio and Santorini,
the other towers are St. Tropez,
Positano, Miami, Maldives, Maui,
Boracay, and Bahamas.
The Paris Beach Club, one of
the centerpieces of Azure, was
designed to specifications of in-
ternational celebrity Paris Hilton.
The three-level beach club was
completed recently, with cleaning
and testing of the facilities cur-
rently in nal stages.
Ms. Hilton is scheduled to visit
on March 10 to inaugurate the
beach club.
The rst phase of Azure Beach
has also been completed and is un-
dergoing nal testing. This facility
features ne beach sand, simulat-
ed ocean waves, waterfalls and an
infinity pool that overflows into
two private beach coves located at
opposite ends of the project.
In the same statement, Century
Properties tagged Azure Urban
Resort Residences as one of its
fast-selling residential develop-
ments, among other projects such
as Acqua Private Residences in
Mandaluyong City, the Residences
at Commonwealth in Quezon City,
as well as Trump Tower and the
newly launched Century Spire at
Century City in Makati City.
The company announced last
Jan. 28 that it generated P24.6
billion in reservation sales last
year, representing 15% growth
from 2012 and the highest level
of reservation sales in its 28-year
history.
Its net income grew 12.32%
to P1.586 billion as of September
last year from P1.412 billion in the
same nine months in 2012. In the
same comparative periods, rev-
enues rose 11.91% to P8.083 billion
from P7.223 billion, while costs
and expenses climbed 8.06% to
P5.781 billion from P5.350 billion.
Since it was founded in 1986,
Century Properties has been en-
gaged in real estate development
through subsidiaries Century City
Development Corp.; Century Lim-
itless Corp.; Century Communi-
ties Corp.; and Century Properties
Management, Inc..
Its shares gained two centa-
vos or 1.32% to close P1.53 apiece
yesterday from P1.51 each last
Tuesday.
New tower completed
for condo project
Also for pet owners
Ortigas & Co. last Feb. 15 opened a fenced dog park at Circulo Verde, called Hachi Park. Named after Hachiko, the loyal
Akita that lived in the 1920s to early 1930s and waited daily at Shibuya station in Japan for his owner even nine years after
the latters death, the 365-square-meter park enables dog owners to unleash their pets for play. The park, whose entrance is
shown here in an undated photo which Ortigas e-mailed to media on Feb. 27, has stations equipped with rubbish bins and
water vessels, as well as benches people can use as they watch their dogs play. The park is open 6 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Circulo
Verde itself is a 10-hectare residential project in Bagumbayan, Quezon City that is set to have a total of 15 towers. The proj-
ect features 70% open space with jogging and biking lanes, areas for lounging, and now, Hachi Park.
Middle class buoy HK property tycoons amid risks
HONG KONG When things
get choppy at the top of the prop-
erty ladder, it pays to have your
feet planted on the middle rungs,
which makes developers Cheung
Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung
Kai Properties the best bets to
weather the storm brewing in
Hong Kong.
These powerful property devel-
opers are targeting middle-class,
rst-time buyers who are exempt
from the impact of government
cooling measures at a time when
secondary home transactions are
hovering at a 17-year low.
This represents a large poten-
tial market for developers launch-
ing new projects, so long as they
price units affordably and draw
rst-time buyers from the second-
ary to the primary market, said
Raymond Liu, a property analyst
at brokerage Macquarie.
First-time buyers comprised
70% of the market last year, up
from 53% in 2011, Mr. Liu said.
With 45% of its salable units
this year aimed at mass-market
buyers, the highest among its
peers, Macquarie has identified
Sun Hung Kai as a potential win-
ner in this market, although suc-
cess will come at the expense of
prot margins.
It ranked Henderson Land De-
velopment Company Limited sec-
ond with 37% of its new launches
considered afordable, or below
the HK$6 million (US$773,600)
mark for a unit.
With 44% of the large-scale
housing estates, a market that
has seen a stronger take-up than
many single-block developments,
Cheung Kong was singled out by
Barclays as another developer best
placed to win in this market.
End-users, particularly first-
time buyers, continued to under-
pin the demand for small to me-
dium-sized units, Sun Hung Kai
said in a ling to the Hong Kong
stock exchange on Friday after it
reported a 7.5% drop in underlying
prot for its scal rst half, its low-
est since the rst half of 2010.
The company also said it will
increase its production for small
to medium-sized units over the
medium term.
On the ip side, Sino Land Co.
Ltd. and Kerry Properties Ltd.,
which have 87% and 82%, respec-
tively, of their salable units in the
mid-end and luxury sectors, are
the most exposed among peers to
buyers directly afected by govern-
ment property curbs, according to
data from Macquarie.
MARGINS SQUEEZED
Prices for Hong Kong real estate
have soared nearly 120% since
2008 despite government eforts
to cool the market and the citys
property tycoons have taken a hit
as buyers drive tougher bargains
in one of the worlds most expen-
sive real estate markets.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong Fi-
nance Secretary John Tsang said
the government would not loosen
the property cooling measures
that have forced developers to
impose steep discounts to meet
sales targets, weighing on profit
margins.
With new home supply fore-
cast to hit an eight-year high in
2014, competition to lure buyers
will intensify, which could trigger
even steeper discounts and further
pressure margins.
Sun Hung Kai recently ofered
a longer payment period of up to
540 days for first-time buyers, a
so-called move in first and pay
later tactic that analysts said was
rare.
The measure is designed to give
people who want to upgrade more
time to sell their old homes, with-
out having to pay higher stamp
duties imposed in February last
year on their new ones, analysts
say.
Hong Kongs middle class is
waiting for developers to offer
price cuts and more exible pay-
ment options, said Wong Leung
Sing, research director at Centa-
line Property Agency.
Sun Hung Kai is doing quite
well, so other developers such
as Cheung Kong and New World
Development Co. Ltd. may follow
similar sales tactics for their up-
coming large-scale projects, said
Mr. Wong.
GOOD TIMES OVER
Sales have shown signs of a pickup
thanks to mass-market demand
and various incentives, although
with a 10% price drop forecast for
this year and a surge in construc-
tion costs, some industry watchers
said the good times may be over
for the citys developers.
UBS estimates profit margins
for Hong Kongs six major devel-
Gaisano retail arm plans 100 stores by 2017
CEBU CITY Metro Retail Group,
retail arm of Gaisano-owned Vic-
sal Development Corp., recently
opened the rst of 10 stores it
plans to build this year to reach its
goal of expanding the Metro chain
to 100 stores by 2017.
Eduardo C. Ponce, president
and chief operating officer of
Metro Retail Group, said on the
sidelines of the launch last Feb. 27
that the companys main thrust is
to build or acquire and redevelop
retail units in department store,
supermarket or hypermarket for-
mats instead of a shopping mall.
To date, we have about 42
retail outlets nationwide and we
plan to more than double that to
100 by 2017, he told journalists
here after the opening of Super
Metro Colon hypermarket, the
third Metro store, along historic
Colon Street in downtown Cebu
City.
We are optimistic and aggres-
sive about expanding into modern
retail.
Two more stores located in
Carmen town in northern Cebu
and in Carcar City in the southern
part of the province will open
next.
A Metro store is also being built
in Calamba City, Laguna.
ACQUISITIONS EYED
On top of the 10 stores planned to
be built this year, Mr. Ponce said
acquisitions are also in the pipe-
line.
He did not elaborate beyond
saying his company was in talks
with operators of some regional
malls and smaller stores.
We cannot reach our target of
100 stores by 2017 if we are just
going to build. There are acquisi-
tions in the pipeline and we will
just rebrand them, he said in a
separate interview.
The existing 42 retail outlets
under Metro include at least six
outlets under the Tita Gwapa
Supertinda brand of community
grocery stores that were acquired.
Mr. Ponce also said the com-
pany will continue to forge part-
nerships with property giants like
Ayala Land, Megaworld Corp. and
Filinvest Land, Inc.
The group also plans to set foot
on Mindanao, even as the immedi-
ate focus is to expand the chain in
the Visayas and Luzon.
Frank Gaisano, chairman of
Metro Retail and managing direc-
tor of Vicsal, said the group has
been invited to set up stores in
Mindanao.
Were on the lookout for op-
portunities there especially in
Davao because Mindanao is a
huge retail market, Mr. Ponce
explained.
On the sidelines of the same
event, Mr. Gaisano told journalists
that the opening of Super Metro
Colon is part of the revitalization
program of the Colon Merchants
Association. Colon, touted as the
oldest street in the country, used
to be the central business district
of Cebu.
We are working with the Colon
Merchants Association and the
Office of the Mayor to revitalize
Colon. Our vision is to turn Colon
into the Ginza of the Philippines,
he said.
Asked for his outlook on the
province, Mr. Gaisano noted that
Cebu is the toughest retail market
in the country.
All the other retail outlets are
represented in Cebu. In fact, so
many of the retail outlets have ei-
ther originated from Cebu or are
migrating here. Bankers are telling
us that if you can survive Cebu, you
can survive anywhere, he added.
Mr. Ponce said the competitive
edge of the downtown market con-
sists of ofering great value deals.
You dont want to compete in
prices, he stressed.
What you want to compete in
is value. The more afordable you
can make a valuable product, the
better experience your customers
will have, he explained. John
Paolo G. Bago
opers will fall from 36% in 2012 to
20% in 2015 and 14% in 2016.
The construction cost is high-
er than the land price in todays
property market, Cheung Kong
Chairman Li Ka-shing said at an
earnings briefing on Friday last
week.
If the situation continues a
shortage of labor and many pub-
lic infrastructure projects, plus
competition for labor from Macau
the construction costs will keep
on rising.
The company posted a better-
than-expected 10% rise in 2013
net profit as asset disposal gains
and a stronger contribution from
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. offset
weak at sales.
The price difference between
new launches and secondhand
homes an indicator of devel-
opers protability dropped to
its lowest since 2005 at 0.2% in
the last quarter of 2013, according
to real estate company Midland
Realty.
Sun Hung Kai this month of-
fered a 35% discount on a project
and made it 10% below secondary
homes in the same district, while
Cheung Kong cut prices for a new
launch by 28%.
Construction costs are up
and theyre not going to fall, said
Ricky Poon, executive director
of residential sales at real estate
services firm Colliers Interna-
tional.
Unless they purchase land
in the coming year for 20% less,
prot margins will drop. Thats for
sure. Reuters
Zamboanga eyes
bigger cassava yield
DTI grants bamboo nursery equipment
Thursday, March 6, 2014 8/S1 Agribusiness
ZAMBOANGA CITY Farm-
ers and regional officials of the
Department of Agriculture (DA)
in Zamboanga Peninsula have
drafted a road map to increase
cassava production, farmers
profits, and the areas planted
with the crop.
We dont have a problem with
the (expansion area), as long as the
variety of cassava planted is high-
yielding, said Candido B. Damo,
DAs regional cassava project
leader. It is just a matter of proper
farming and good technology, Mr.
Damo told about 40 participants
in the 7
th
Regional Cassava Stake-
holders Workshop and Meeting
here late last week.
Cassava production in Zam-
boanga Peninsula increased by
about 74% to 52,310 metric tons
(MT) in 2013 from 30,053 MT in
2012, data from the local office of
the Bureau of Agricultural Statis-
tics showed.
Ahmad A. Nahul, regional cas-
sava point person and part of the
DAs cassava promotion program,
said the robust output last year
took place despite the fact that
the cassava area in the region de-
creased 7%.
Quality planting materials is
the key to a successful produc-
tion program, Mr. Nahul said,
explaining the signicant increase
in harvest.
Noel delos Santos, San Miguel
Corp. (SMC) western Mindanao
coordinator, told workshop par-
ticipants that there will always
be a market for the cassava they
would produce.
Do not hesitate to plant cassava
because [SMC] needs you, he said.
Local supply has never reached a
quarter of our companys demand.
Mr. delos Santos said the com-
pany is committed to partnering
with farmers in Mindanao, speci-
cally those involved in alternative
crops such as cassava and sweet
potatoes.
SMC, he also said, requires at
least 20 hectares for the cassava
assembler partnership scheme,
under which the company pro-
vides growers with technical and
nancial assistance.
Cassava, Mr. delos Santos said,
is used as a main ingredient for
animal feeds under the B-Meg
brand.
According to Mr. Nahul, SMC
is the only company buying cas-
sava in Zamboanga Peninsula.
The crop is bought from farmers
at P9.50 per kilogram (kg) in the
form of dried chip and P2.50/kg
for fresh tuber at farm gate.
Karel B. Mellanes
THE DEPARTMENT of Trade
and Industry (DTI), under its
shared service facilities (SSF)
program, turned over equipment
and machinery to the Philippine
Bamboo Foundation, Inc. (PBFI)
for its various projects in Negros
Oriental, the agency yesterday
said in a statement.
With the common service
facility, workers in the bamboo
industry can now access equip-
ment and mechanized tools to
increase their production capac-
ity [and] efciency and serve new
markets through more products
and services, read the statement.
The value of the equipment
provided was not immediately
provided, though.
The output from PBFIs pro-
jects is said to replace houses and
buildings in Central Visayas dam-
aged by natural disasters last year.
The Phil ippine Bamboo
Foundation, Inc. will collaborate
with government and interna-
tional organizations to cater to
the present need of producing
alternative green structures for
the calamity-stricken areas in
Bohol, Cebu, Leyte and Samar
provinces, read the statement.
Typhoon Yolanda (inter-
national name: Haiyan) hit the
central Philippines last Nov. 8,
leaving over 6,200 people dead
and an estimated P36.69 billion
in damage to farms and infra-
structure.
A month earlier, the island of
Bohol was struck by a 7.2-mag-
nitude earthquake, killing more
than 200 people and destroying
key infrastructure and cultural
sites.
PBFI is a nongovernment or-
ganization that hosts the biggest
bamboo nursery for all of Visayas
and Mindanao, with at least 40
bamboo species grown in the nurs-
ery site in Dauin, Negros Oriental.
SSFs are intended for the com-
mon use of community-based
cooperatives. They are part of the
DTIs industry clustering program
for micro, small, and medium en-
terprises to improve production
processes in terms of quality, pro-
ductivity and efciency.
The government has allotted
P700 million for SSF establish-
ment this year. The Bicol region
has been allocated P35 million
for its SSF program this year.
Daryll Edisonn D. Saclag
Ethiopias teff grain set
to be worlds next super-food
DEBRE ZEYT Under a searing mid-
day sun, a herd of cattle circles atop
a pile of golden teff, thrashing the
wheat-like grain, a method that has
been practiced by Ethiopian farmers
for centuries.
The crop, mostly grown in the
Horn of Africa, is a key part of the
countrys heritage and a crucial food
staple but is also gaining increased
interest abroad among health afcio-
nados seeking a nutritious, gluten-
free alternative to wheat.
Ethiopians are proud of the crop
because it is almost our identity,
said Solomon Chanyalew, director of
the Debre Zeyt Agricultural Research
Center, a teff research hub.
But these days, teff is getting
global attention, he said.
Relatively unknown outside of
Ethiopia for now the cereal is
predicted to replace quinoa as the
latest global super-food.
But a ban on exports to control
price hikes at home has left farmers
tied to local consumers, limiting
their contribution to growing markets
abroad.
The poppy-seed-sized grain is
renowned for its nutritional qualities.
Mineral-rich and high in protein, teff
is also a slow-releasing food, ideal
for diabetics, and sought after by
people with a gluten intolerance or
Celiac disease.
Teff is not only gluten-free, which
is an increasingly important aspect of
foods that is being sought out, but its
also incredibly nutritious. Many people
consider teff to be a super-food, said
Khalid Bomba, CEO of Ethiopias Agri-
cultural Transformation Agency.
In Ethiopia, teff is used to make
injera, a spongy fermented pancake
topped with meat or vegetable
stew and consumed with an almost
religious devotion, often three times
a day.
In the West, however, where it is
touted by celebrity chefs and health-
conscious Hollywood stars, the grain
is most commonly ground into four
and used to make biscuits, breads,
pastas and even teff juice.
It is also a resilient crop; it can
grow between sea level and 3,000
meters and is both drought- and
food-resistant, ideal for Ethiopias dry
highlands.
But, despite its versatility,
Ethiopias 6.5 million teff farmers
struggle to meet local demand let
alone growing demand from abroad
with limited access to seed
varieties, fertilizers and modern ma-
chinery that would allow for higher
yields.
Teff also suffers from a lack of
research since it is considered an
orphan crop, unlike global crops
like rice, wheat and maize, which are
widely studied and well-funded.
People dont want to work on
teff; basically, its not paying, said
Kebebew Assefa, one of only two full-
time teff researchers in Ethiopia.
RISK OF PRICE HIKE
Regardless, productivity has climbed
to bridge the supply gap, with the
introduction of 19 new teff varieties
and improved farming techniques.
In the last four years, yields have
increased from 1.2 to 1.5 million
metric tons (MT) per hectare, which
Mr. Khalid said bodes well.
The production increases are
what gives us the confdence that
Ethiopia will be able to compete at a
global level when it comes to tapping
into the increasing demand from
consumers in Europe, in London, or
New York or Brisbane, he said.
An estimated 2 million MT per
hectare is required to reach export
potential.
For now, the ban on exports re-
mains in place to avoid the pitfalls of
quinoa in Bolivia, where most people
could not afford the staple crop after
the surge in global popularity.
The price of teff $72 (52
euros) per quintal is already too
expensive for the majority of Ethiopi-
ans who earn less than two dollars
per day.
But farmers are eager to export
their teff, well aware of the higher
prices they can fetch.
I want to sell it abroad because
its going to have a good market, and I
will earn good money, and it will bring
good motivation for my work, said
Tirunesh Merete, 60, who has been
growing teff for nearly four decades.
Neighboring farmer Amha Abra-
ham said he is keen to make more
money but recognizes that local
markets need to be fed frst.
If we export teff to other
countries, then we can get a lot of
money, but we must provide frst for
our countrys consumption, he said,
standing near a giant pile of golden
teff stalks, used for roofng and as
cattle feed.
Until the export ban is lifted,
Ethiopian farmers remain excluded
from a growing international industry,
with teff products appearing on
shelves in health food stores across
North America and Europe.
Everybody has started talking
about gluten-free, said Rob Roffel,
CEO of the Dutch company Consenza,
which produces gluten-free foods
from teff grown in the Netherlands.
The demand for gluten-free foods
mainly was for Celiacs... but what
we see now more and more is other
target groups interested in teff four,
he said, adding that his business has
grown 30% annually since 2006.
In the meantime, Khalid said he
has high hopes for teff.
If you look at whats happened
with quinoa, its a $150-million mar-
ket in fve years, and teff is actually
much more nutritious and much more
resilient than quinoa, he said.
So, we think theres a much
bigger market opportunity for teff.
AFP
AFP
Feathered foragers
A rice farmer plows a feld just outside Metro Manila on March 4 as insect-eating birds fy around him, looking for any prey he may have stirred up. Though rice is a staple
food, rice farmers have been left behind by the countrys economic resurgency, which has largely benefted other groups like overseas workers, the retail industry and work-
ers in the booming business process outsourcing sector.
A FARMER winnows dried teff to separate seeds from stalks in Bishoftu town, Oramia,
Ethiopia, in this Feb. 20 photo.
AFP
China bans Polish pork
amid African swine fever scare
WARSAW China has banned
pork imports from Poland, a lead-
ing EU exporter of the meat, after
Warsaw conrmed its rst two
cases of African swine fever among
wild boars.
China is home to half of the
globes pigs, and the United Na-
tions Food and Agriculture Orga-
nization (FAO) has warned of vast
losses should the swine fever take
hold there.
The Chinese measure comes af-
ter Russia slapped its own ban on
pork imports from the 28-member
European Union after the disease
appeared in Lithuania, a move
Brussels criticized as dispropor-
tionate.
China has informed the Eu-
ropean Commission of a ban on
Polish pork imports, Polands ag-
riculture ministry spokeswoman
Malgorzata Ksiazyk told AFP last
week, without specifying when the
ban took efect.
The minister, Stanislaw Ka-
lemba, met Chinas ambassador
to Warsaw Xu Jian near the end of
February to explain the measures
Warsaw was taking to prevent the
spread of the swine fever (ASF) on
its territory, she added.
ASF is harmless to humans but
lethal to pigs and has no known
cure, posing a grave threat to com-
mercial pig farms. The disease has
not been detected in Polish pigs,
only wild boars.
State veterinarians confirmed
ASF in Poland last week follow-
ing tests on the carcasses of wild
boar found near the village of
Szudzialowo, just under a kilo-
meter from the border with Be-
larus.
The disease has spread through-
out the Balkans, the Caucasus and
Russia since 2007, and is endemic
to areas of Africa, according to the
FAO.
China is the largest importer
of Polish pork, having absorbed
52,000 metric tons in 2013 worth
68 million ($92 million).
A leading pork player in the
European Union, Poland exported
912 million worth of the meat
last year.
A bufer zone has been created
along parts of Polands eastern
border with Belarus, Lithuania and
Ukraine as part of Warsaws eforts
to contain the spread of ASF.
Ofcials have ordered farmers
to fence in their land, lay down
disinfectant mats, and test and
monitor shipments of live pigs out
of the zone. AFP
Alaska mine could
be blocked for salmon
WASHINGTON US environ-
mental authorities made a rare
move Friday to block a massive
copper and gold mine in Alaska
before it even gets under way, in a
bid to protect wild salmon.
The Pebble Mine project has
the potential to be one of the
biggest open-pit copper mines,
but once built, it could threaten
the exceptionally rich salmon
fishery in the Bristol Bay area,
the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) explained in a
statement.
Extensive scientific study
has given us ample reason to be-
lieve that the Pebble Mine would
likely have significant and ir-
reversible negative impacts on
the Bristol Bay watershed and
its abundant salmon fisheries,
said EPA Administrator Gina
McCarthy.
The EPA action could lead to
an unprecedented federal ban on a
mining project before the compa-
ny behind it even puts in a permit
request.
This process is not something
the agency does very often, but
Bristol Bay is an extraordinary and
unique resource, Ms. McCarthy
said, calling it the worlds most
productive salmon shery.
Bristol Bay produces half the
wild sockeye salmon in the world,
an average of 37.5 million sh per
year, in part because of the excep-
tional water quality in the streams
and wetlands there.
Plans call for the mine to be
built near the headwaters of two
rivers whose fisheries produce
about $480 million of sh and em-
ploy some 14,000 people.
In order to move forward, the
mines promoters would need to
show that their activities wouldnt
threaten the ecosystem.
The EPA move is a victory for
environmental activists, sheries
and indigenous groups who had
been fighting the mining project
for the past three years.
But, Republican leaders in
Al aska, i ncl udi ng Governor
Sean Parnell and Senator Lisa
Murkowski disapproved, with
Ms. Murkowski warning that the
EPA action could set a terrible
precedent.
Promoters of the Pebble proj-
ect say the region holds one of the
worlds largest and richest mineral
gold and copper deposits, which
could produce 36 million metric
tons (MT) of copper and more
than 3,000 MT of gold within the
next 30 years. AFP
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S1/9
The
World
BEIJING/HONG KONG Chi-
na announced its biggest rise in
military spending in three years
yesterday, a strong signal from
President Xi Jinping that Beijing
is not about to back away from its
growing assertiveness in Asia, es-
pecially in disputed waters.
The government said it would
increase the defense budget by
12.2% this year to 808.23 billion
yuan ($131.57 billion), as China
seeks to develop more high-tech
weapons and to beef up coastal and
air defenses.
The increase follows a nearly
unbroken run of double-digit hikes
in the Chinese defense budget,
second only to the United States in
size, for the past two decades.
This is worrying news for
Chinas neighbors, particularly for
Japan, said Rory Medcalf, a re-
gional security analyst at the inde-
pendent Lowy Institute in Sydney.
Those who thought Mr. Xi
might prefer to concentrate on do-
mestic development over military
expansion in a slowing economy
had underestimated the Chinese
determination to shape its strate-
gic environment, he added.
The 2014 defense budget is the
first for Mr. Xi, the princeling
son of a late Communist Party
elder, and the increase in spend-
ing appears to reect his desire to
build what he calls a strong, reju-
venated China. Mr. Xi also recently
urged Chinas military leadership
to work faster to get the countrys
sole aircraft carrier combat-ready.
The spending jump is the big-
gest since a 12.7% rise in 2011.
Within hours of the announce-
ment, officials in Japan and Tai-
wan expressed disquiet over the
absence of any details on how Bei-
jing will spend the money con-
cerns long echoed in Washington
with Chinas defense budgets.
China and Japan, a key US ally
in the region, are increasingly
locking horns over uninhabited
rocky islands each claims in the
East China Sea.
Beijing also claims 90% of the
3.5 million sq km South China Sea,
which is believed to be rich in oil
and gas. The Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan
claim parts of those waters.
Speaking at the opening of
Chinas annual session of parlia-
ment, Premier Li Keqiang said the
government would strengthen
research on national defense and
the development of new- and
high-technology weapons and
equipment and enhance border,
coastal and air defenses.
We will comprehensively en-
hance the revolutionary nature
of the Chinese armed forces, fur-
ther modernize them and upgrade
their performance, and continue
to raise their deterrence and com-
bat capabilities in the informa-
tion age, Mr. Li told the largely
rubber-stamp National Peoples
Congress.
He gave no details.
Chinas military spending has
allowed Beijing to create a modern
force that is projecting power not
only across the disputed waters of
the East and South China Seas, but
further into the western Pacific
and Indian Oceans.
Much military spending likely
takes place outside the budget,
however, and many experts es-
timate real outlays are closer to
$200 billion. The US Defense De-
partments base budget for fiscal
2014 is $526.8 billion.
The budget spike comes as Asia
reacts nervously to a string of re-
cent moves by China to assert its
sovereignty in disputed territory,
expand its military reach and chal-
lenge the traditional dominance of
US forces in the region.
Chinese fighters and surveil-
lance planes now routinely patrol
a controversial new air defense
identification zone that covers
disputed Japanese-administered
islands in the East China Sea.
Meanwhile, Beijings aircraft car-
rier went on its rst exercises in
the South China Sea late last year.
At a time when Washington has
stepped up its military presence
in the region as part of a strate-
gic pivot toward Asia, China is
building new submarines, surface
ships and anti-ship ballistic mis-
siles, and has tested emerging
technology aimed at destroying
missiles in midair.
Nevertheless, experts say it
could be decades before Chinas
military is a match for Americas
armed forces.
Japans chief cabinet secretary,
Yoshihide Suga, said Chinas lack
of clarity in its defense policy and
spending was a global concern.
While noting the substantial
spending increase was needed to
modernize Chinas military, Da-
vid Lo, a spokesman for Taiwans
Defense Ministry, said much re-
mained hidden.
The transparency of Chinas
defense budget has always been
questionable, as it is widely seen
there are a massive amount of
military items hidden, he said.
In Washington, David Helvey,
US deputy assistant secretary of
defense for East Asia, told a US
Senate committee hearing on
Tuesday that the Pentagon was
seeking to build healthy ties
with Chinas military, but said Bei-
jing needed to be more open about
its armed forces buildup.
The United States last month
said it was concerned that Chinas
maritime claims in the South
China Sea were an effort to gain
creeping control of oceans in the
Asia-Pacic region.
We remain concerned about
a lack of transparency regarding
Chinas growing military and its
increasingly assertive behavior in
the maritime domain, Mr. Helvey
said.
China has repeatedly said that
the world has nothing to fear from
its military spending, which it says
is needed for legitimate defensive
purposes and to modernize out-
dated equipment.
Fu Ying, a spokeswoman for
the parliamentary session, reiter-
ated that policy on Tuesday, saying
China was seeking peace through
strength. China would respond
effectively to provocations, she
added. Reuters
China ramps up military spending
MOSCOW President Vladimir
Putin delivered a robust defense
of Russias actions in Crimea and
said on Tuesday that he would
use force in Ukraine only as a last
resort, easing market fears that
East-West tension over the former
Soviet republic could lead to war.
But tension remained high on
the ground. Russian forces fired
warning shots in a confrontation
with Ukrainian servicemen at an
air base, and Russian navy ships
were reported to have blockaded
the strait separating the Ukrainian
Black Sea peninsula from Russia.
At his first news conference
since the crisis began, Mr. Putin
said Russia reserved the right to
use all options to protect compa-
triots who were living in terror
in Ukraine but that force was not
needed for now.
His comments, coupled with
the end of Russian war games near
Ukraines borders, lifted Russian
bonds and stock markets around
the world after a panic sell-of on
Monday.
Mr. Putin denied the Rus-
sian armed forces were directly
engaged in the bloodless seizure
of Crimea, saying the uniformed
troops without national insignia
were local self-defense forces.
As for bringing in forces, for
now there is no such need, but
such a possibility exists, he said.
What could serve as a reason to
use military force? It would natu-
rally be the last resort. Absolutely
the last.
Western sanctions under con-
sideration against Russia would
be counter-productive, he said. A
senior US ofcial said Washington
was ready to impose them in days
rather than weeks. The Russian
Foreign Ministry warned that
Moscow would retaliate.
In Washington, US President
Barack Obama acknowledged that
Russia had legitimate interests in
Ukraine but said that did not give
Mr. Putin the right to intervene
militarily.
President Putin seems to have
a diferent set of lawyers making
a diferent set of interpretations,
Mr. Obama said. But I dont think
thats fooling anybody.
A senior administration ofcial
said Mr. Obama spoke to German
Chancellor Angela Merkel on
Tuesday and discussed a potential
resolution to the crisis.
The ofcial said Mr. Obama, in
his phone call with Mr. Putin last
Saturday, had discussed what of-
ficials called an off-ramp to the
crisis in which Russia would pull
its forces in Crimea back to their
bases and allow international
monitors to ensure that the rights
of ethnic Russians are protected.
The US president will not at-
tend a G8 summit scheduled for
Sochi, Russia, in June unless there
is a Russian reversal in the Ukraine
crisis, the ofcial added.
Mr. Putin and Chinese Presi-
dent Xi Jinping spoke by telephone
late on Tuesday. The Kremlin said
the two leaders held close views
on Ukraine, while the Chinese
Foreign Ministry said Mr. Xi had
told Mr. Putin he believed Russia
can push for a political settlement.
China and Russia have close
ties and see eye-to-eye on many
international diplomatic issues.
Both have veto powers on the
United Nations Security Council.
Canadian Prime Minister Ste-
phen Harper said on Tuesday after
speaking to Mr. Obama over the
weekend that the Group of Seven
leading industrialized nations
were considering meeting in the
near future, a move that would
pointedly exclude Russia. The G7
became the G8 in 1998 when Rus-
sia was formally included.
US Secretary of State John Ker-
ry, on his rst visit to Kiev since
the overthrow of Russian-backed
President Victor Yanukovich, ac-
cused Moscow of seeking a pretext
to invade more of the country.
Mr. Kerry laid owers in Inde-
pendence Square at a memorial to
pro-Western protesters killed by
police last month, describing the
experience as moving, distressing
and inspiring. He met Ukraines
interim leaders and announced a
$1-billion economic package and
technical assistance for the new
government.
Mr. Putin said there had been
an unconstitutional coup in
Ukraine, and Mr. Yanukovich, who
ed to Russia last week, was still
the legitimate leader. No Ukrai-
nian government elected under
such terror as we see now would
be legitimate, he said.
Mr. Kerry said the United
States was not seeking a confron-
tation and would prefer to see
the situation managed through
international institutions such as
the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE.
Ukrainian Prime Minister
Arseny Yatseniuk told reporters
in Kiev that the Ukrainian and
Russian governments had begun
consultations on the crisis at the
level of ministers.
The Feb. 22 ousting of Mr. Ya-
nukovich after months of street
protests in Kiev and Russias sei-
zure of Crimea have prompted the
most serious confrontation be-
tween Moscow and the West since
the end of the Cold War.
Western governments have
been alarmed at the possibil-
ity that Russia may also move into
eastern and southern Ukraine,
home to many Russian speakers,
which Mr. Putin did not rule out.
There can be only one assess-
ment of what happened in Kiev,
in Ukraine in general. This was an
anti-constitutional coup and the
armed seizure of power, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Putin
ordered troops involved in a mili-
tary exercise in western Russia,
close to the border with Ukraine,
back to their bases. He said armed
men who had seized buildings and
other facilities in Crimea were lo-
cal groups.
Despite Mr. Putins more con-
ciliatory comments, NATO said
Russia had shown few signs of de-
escalating matters, as members of
the military alliance held emer-
gency talks on the crisis. Reuters
Putin: Military force
would be last resort
WASHINGTON The Pentagon
unveiled a $496-billion base bud-
get on Tuesday that looks beyond
Afghanistan to future US security
challenges after a dozen years of
war, cutting the military to aford
more training and new weapons as
it adapts to an era of tighter spend-
ing.
The budget set the Obama ad-
ministration on a collision course
with Congress by trying to elimi-
nate popular older weapons sys-
tems and curb military compensa-
tion while seeking $26.4 billion in
additional defense spending to be
paid for by closing tax loopholes
and cutting mandatory spending.
The spending plan means the
Pentagons base budget for the
2015 scal year essentially would
remain at for a third consecutive
year as the department responds
to directions to cut nearly $1 tril-
lion in spending over a decade.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
said the budget supports and
is informed by our updated de-
fense strategy as outlined in the
Quadrennial Defense Review, an
examination of strategy and pri-
orities that was released alongside
the budget.
The two documents drew an
immediate negative reaction on
Capitol Hill. Representative Buck
McKeon, the Republican chair-
man of the House Armed Services
Committee, expressed dismay at
the shrinking security spending
and flatly rejected the strategy
review, vowing to make the Penta-
gon rewrite it.
The White House said the Pen-
tagons funding levels would en-
able the military to protect US in-
terests and execute the countrys
updated defense strategy, albeit
with somewhat increased levels
of risk.
The risks would grow signi-
cantly if higher budget cuts go
into force in 2016 and beyond as
planned, it said.
The Pentagons five-year bud-
get plan ignores the spending caps
set by Congress for the 2016 to
2019 scal years, seeking $115 bil-
lion more than the limits set in the
2011 Budget Control Act.
Analysts said the true level of
defense spending would not be
known for several months until
the Pentagon releases its war-
funding request for 2015.
The department increasingly
has relied on that segment of the
budget for funding operations and
modernization related to the Af-
ghanistan conict because it is not
subject to congressional budget
caps.
The budget calls for the Army
to shrink to between 440,000 and
450,000 soldiers, down from a
war-time high of 570,000, a reduc-
tion of 40,000 to 50,000 compared
to last years proposal.
It would eliminate the entire
fleet of popular A-10 Warthog
tank-killer aircraft, as well as the
venerable U-2 reconnaissance
planes. The budget also cancels
several other key weapons pro-
grams.
The Armys new ground com-
bat vehicle would be eliminated,
saving $3.4 billion over the next
ve years, and the Army commu-
nications network being built by
General Dynamics Corp. would be
scaled back, saving another $3.4
billion.
The budget also scraps plans
to build two additional Lockheed
Martin Corp. Advanced Extremely
High Frequency satellites, for $2.1
billion in savings, and defers two
Global Positioning System III sat-
ellites to be built by Lockheed.
The Pentagon would use some
of the savings to invest in new re-
search, development and procure-
ment. The budget includes $153.9
billion for weapons, including $40
billion for aircraft, $22 billion for
ships and $8.2 billion for missile
defense. Reuters
Pentagon looks beyond Afghanistan
WASHINGTON Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
warned the United States and oth-
er world powers on Tuesday not
to allow Iran to retain the ability
to enrich uranium, and urged Pal-
estinians to recognize Israel as a
Jewish state if they wanted peace.
Addressing the pro-Israel
lobby AIPAC just a day after
White House talks, Mr. Netanyahu
avoided any explicit criticism of
President Barack Obama but un-
derscored main diferences over
US-led nuclear diplomacy.
With Mr. Netanyahu facing
pressure to meet looming dead-
lines for salvaging a US-brokered
Middle East peace effort, he in-
sisted he was prepared to make
historic peace with the Palestin-
ians but offered no concessions.
Mr. Obama pressed him in private
on Monday to help bridge difer-
ences in the next several weeks,
a US ofcial said.
Mr. Netanyahu reiterated his
firm opposition to the possibil-
ity that a nal deal to curb Irans
disputed nuclear program would
allow it to keep some technologies
with bomb-making potential.
All of these must be dismantled,
he said, adding that pressure on
Tehran should be increased. That
is the reverse of a modest easing
of sanctions Iran received under
an interim accord with the US and
ve other powers in November.
In a pledge that signaled both
willingness to strike Irans nuclear
sites as a last resort and refusal
to yield on core peace terms with
the Palestinians, Mr. Netanyahu
told a cheering audience: I will
do whatever I must to defend the
Jewish state of Israel.
But the hawkish Israeli leader,
who has been accused of trying
to scuttle the Iran negotiations,
stopped short of issuing any direct
threat against the Islamic Repub-
lic, Israels arch foe. Reuters
Netanyahu
reiterates
warnings
NEW DELHI Indias mammoth
parliamentary election will start
on April 7, authorities announced
yesterday, kicking of a race that
will pit charismatic Hindu nation-
alist leader Narendra Modi against
the unpopular Nehru-Gandhi
familys ruling Congress party.
Chief Election Commissioner
V.S. Sampath said 814 million
people would be eligible to vote,
a number larger than the popula-
tion of Europe. Results are due to
be announced on May 16.
Voting will be held in nine
stages, staggered until May 12 to
allow security forces to focus their
strength during an exercise that,
for decades after independence
from Britain in 1947, has often
been marred by violence and bal-
lot rigging.
Running on his strong econom-
ic track record as chief minister of
the state of Gujarat, Mr. Modi has
emerged in opinion polls as the
favorite, reecting popular anger
over corruption and a sense that
the center-left Congress govern-
ment frittered away opportunities
for rapid growth after coming to
power in 2004.
With half of Indias popula-
tion under 25, a record number
of first-time voters is expected
to participate in the election and
many appear open to Mr. Modis
promises of job creation and ef-
cient government.
However, Indias fragmented
political landscape and rst-past-
the-post system for parliamentary
seats makes results notoriously
hard to predict, and that means a
victory is by no means assured for
Mr. Modis Bharatiya Janata Party.
Leading the campaign for the
Congress party is Rahul Gandhi,
the latest in line in the Nehru-
Gandhi dynasty that has given
India three prime ministers and
its most powerful contemporary
politician, his mother, Sonia Gan-
dhi. Reuters
India elections to start April 7
Isolated
Surja Devi Saud, 20, who practices chaupadi, sits outside her house in Achham District, western Nepal, in this Feb. 16,
2014 photo. Chaupadi is a tradition observed in parts of Nepal, which cuts women off from the rest of society when they are
menstruating. Women who practice traditional chaupadi have to sleep in sheds or outbuildings while they are having their
period, often with little protection from the elements. They are not allowed to enter houses or temples, use normal public
water sources, take part in festivals or touch others during their menstruation, according to a United Nations feld bulletin.
Chaupadi was banned by Nepals Supreme Court in 2005, but it is still common in the countrys far and midwestern regions.
REUTERS
Thursday, March 6, 2014 10/S1
The
Nation
JONATHAN L. CELLONA
Pointed
Labor groups hold a dance protest in front of the Supreme Court building in Manila to ask for a temporary restraining order on Social Security Systems (SSS) premium
hikes. The groups also sought for the help of the high court to stop the increase in the premiums of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), saying that higher
premiums at this time would be a double whammy for workers.
THE DEPARTMENT of Budget
and Management (DBM) has re-
leased P9.52 billion for the hiring
of over 30,000 teachers for schools
nationwide.
In a statement yesterday, the
agency said the allotment was
made to the Department of Edu-
cation (DepEd) and will fund the
creation of 31,335 elementary and
secondary teaching positions for
school year 2014-2015 as part of the
governments education reforms.
The release was charged against
the Miscellaneous Personnel Ben-
efits Fund under this years na-
tional budget.
The release gives DepEd the
go signal for jump-starting the hir-
ing process immediately, with all
positions ideally lled out by April
1, 2014, in time for the beginning of
classes, said the DBM.
Budget Secretary Florencio B.
Abad said the hiring of more teach-
ers is essential to the governments
goal of improving the teacher-to-
student ratio in our countrys edu-
cation system.
For a long time, Philippine
public schools were crippled by
a shortage of teachers who can
amply guide our schoolchildren
in their academic pursuits, Mr.
Abad noted.
The P9.52-billion release will
give DepEd enough funding leg-
room to close the 33,194 teacher
gap in public schools by 2015, he
said.
Its not just a matter of enhanc-
ing our public education system,
but also of giving our students the
chance to learn from qualied in-
structors who can equip them with
skills that will be useful beyond
the classroom, he added.
DBM releases
P9.52 billion
for teachers
WHISTLE-BLOWERS Dennis L.
Cunanan and Benhur K. Luy are
both set to appear today before the
Senate blue ribbon committee for
the ongoing investigation on the
alleged P10-billion Priority Devel-
opment Assistance Fund (PDAF)
scam.
Senate committee chairman
Senator Teosto D. Guingona III
told reporters yesterday that the
two witnesses will be accompa-
nied by Justice Secretary Leila M.
de Lima. Mr. Guingona said that
Mr. Luy will play an important
role in conrming the testimony
that will be made by Mr. Cunanan.
Mr. Cunanan was the former
director-general of Technology
Resource Center (TRC) who al-
legedly helped in the questionable
transactions using the PDAF of
lawmakers.
Meanwhile, pork barrel scam
witness Ruby Tuason has left for
Hong Kong to plan how she would
nance the P40 million she com-
mitted to return to the govern-
ment, her lawyer said yesterday.
In a text message, lawyer Den-
nis P. Manalo said: She left to at-
tend to personal matters foremost
of which is to finance her com-
mitment to return P40 million to
the government. She coordinated
with the DoJ WPP (Department
of Justice Witness Protection Pro-
gram) for her travel. There is no
hold departure against her so she
does not need permission.
He added part of Ms. Tuasons
itinerary includes Los Angeles,
also to attend to personal mat-
ters.
Immigration Spokesperson
Maria Angelica Pedro, in a sepa-
rate text message, said Ms. Tuason
left the country on March 2 and is
scheduled to return on April 5.
Sought for comment, an infuri-
ated Justice Secretary refused to
conrm that Ms. Tuason has left
the country.
Im asking [Immigration]
Commissioner [Siegfred B.] Mison
to require that spokesperson to
explain why she made such an
announcement. I cannot be con-
firming that, Ms. de Lima told
reporters in a chance interview.
That is a WPP matter, covered
by confidentiality provision, but
any such announcement by that
spokesperson is not authorized,
and therefore I asked [Mr.] Mison
to ask her to explain.
Ruby Tuason, the alleged
liaison between lawmakers and
supposed mastermind Janet
Lim-Napoles, was provisionally
accepted to Witness Protection
Program (WPP) after subscrib-
ing to an afdavit directly linking
Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and
Jose Jinggoy E. Estrada in the
pork barrel scam.
Ms. Tuasons affidavit stated
that she directly gave the 40%
commission of Mr. Estrada, bol-
stering the statements of pork
barrel scam whistle-blowers that
lawmakers received the kickbacks
through their agents or represen-
tatives. MLVA and MFEF
THE HOUSE of Representatives on Tuesday
ratied the proposed act that will establish
the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)
as the single agency tasked to enforce interna-
tional standards on the countrys seafarers.
House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr.,
in a statement, said the Senate has also ratied
the bill and is now set for transmittal to Presi-
dent Benigno S. C. Aquino III for signature.
Mr. Belmonte welcomed the ratication of
the bill, as he underscored the importance of
passing the said piece of legislation.
It is signicant that it is the rst major bill
that we have passed in this session. The Philip-
pines provides the most number of seafarers
in the whole world, and their future is endan-
gered because there are changes necessary in
their training, accreditation and skills here,
he said.
Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona,
co-author of the house version of the bill, said
with the ratication, the measure will eventu-
ally make our seafarers the seafarers of choice
and be recognized as global maritime profes-
sionals.
Last month, both chambers of Congress
unanimously passed on third and nal reading
their respective versions of the bill House
Bill 3766 and Senate Bill 2043 that will make
MARINA the single maritime authority.
This as the country hopes to avoid the
blacklisting of tens of thousands of Philippine
seafarers by the European Union (EU) for
unsatisfactory compliance with the Interna-
tional Convention on Standards of Training,
Certication and Watchkeeping for Seafarers
(STCW Convention).
Last April, the European Maritime Safety
Agency (EMSA), which reviews the maritime
training of non-EU countries that supply the
union with seafarers, audited the Philippines,
and found deciencies in compliance with the
countrys obligations under the 2010 Manila
Amendments of the STCW Convention, par-
ticularly regarding the quality of education of
Filipino seafarers. EMSA conducted another
assessment last October and has yet to release
the results of the audit.
Mr. Madrona, in the same statement said
that should Filipino seafarers be blacklisted
from European vessels, the country tends to
lose $4.8 billion income.
For his part, Party-list Rep. Jesulito A.
Manalo (ANGKLA), who had filed the house
version of the bill, said world trade amounts to
$18.5 trillion of which, 90% is in shipping run
by 1.4 million seafarers, that 30% are Filipinos.
Mr. Belmonte pointed out that the bill, if
properly implemented, will address concerns
relating to Filipino seafarers.
That is why it is a real contribution to the
future of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos
who also contribute to our country, the House
Speaker said.
Under the bill, MARINA will assume the
powers and functions regarding the issuance,
validation, verication, correction, revocation
or cancellation of certicates of competency,
endorsement, proficiency and documentary
evidence required of all seafarers.
These functions are currently exercised
by the Professional Regulation Commission,
Commission on Higher Education (CHEd),
Technical Education and Skills Develop-
ment Authority, National Telecommunica-
tions Commission, and Department of Health
(DoH).
MARINA will also head CHEds Technical
Panel on Maritime Education that, in turn,
will formulate, review and recommend to the
CHEd commission en banc all policies, stan-
dards, and guidelines for maritime education,
including curricula, facilities and educational
guidelines.
The maritime authority will also work with
the DoH to ensure that seafarers medical t-
ness complies with international conventions
or treaties and existing laws.
The Health department is tasked to accredit
medical facilities and practitioners that are
qualied in accordance with the STCW Con-
vention standards.
The bill will supersede Executive Order 75,
issued by Mr. Aquino in 2012 to similarly ap-
point MARINA as the sole oversight authority
over seafarers compliance.
Following the ratification of the bill, Mr.
Belmonte expressed optimism for the future of
the Filipino seafarers.
Lets not forget that we were there before
them, Mr. Belmonte said, referring to other
international seafarers.
For 250 years that the Spanish galleon
trade crossed the Pacific, they had Filipino
crew members, he added.
Mr. Madrona earlier expected the enact-
ment of the bill last month. Imee Charlee
C. Delavin
By Bettina Faye V. Roc
Senior Reporter
Of the 31,335 positions to be
created through this fund release,
13,738 new teachers will be hired
at the elementary level (Grades 1
to 6), while 17,597 personnel will
be designated at the secondary
level (Grades 7 and 8, and years III
and IV).
Region IV-A will hire the most
number of teachers with 4,809
positions, followed by Region III
with 3,754, and Region VII with
3,425 future hires, said the depart-
ment.
Education continues to be
the governments best bet in em-
powering the poor and opening
up opportunities for their future
employment, Mr. Abad noted.
Along with the implementa-
tion of the extended Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
this year, the administrations
work of addressing our public edu-
cation gaps remains key in our bid
for swift, sustainable, and inclu-
sive growth, where Filipinos can
truly benefit from the countrys
economic gains, the Budget chief
added.
GSIS PREMIUMS
Last month, the Budget depart-
ment has released the needed
money for the payment of the
governments share of insurance
premium contributions for DepEd
personnel.
In a statement, the budget
agency said it has rolled out P2.91
billion chargeable against the
Miscellaneous Personnel Benets
Fund under this years P2.265-
trillion national budget.
The release will fund the na-
tional governments share for the
payment of unremitted Govern-
ment Service Insurance System
(GSIS) premiums for DepEd em-
ployees, specically for the period
covering July 1, 1997 to Dec. 31,
2010.
Cunanan, Luy set to appear in Senate probe today
House of Representatives ratifes bill
creating single maritime agency
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S1/11
By Imee Charlee C. Delavin
The
Nation
T
Philippines
World
Legend: S-Sunny; PS-Partly sunny; PC-Partly cloudy; CD-Cloudy; MC-Mostly cloudy; MS-Mostly
sunny; SH-Shower; R-Rain; SN-Snow; FG-Fog; FL-Flurries; T-Thunderstorm; W-Windy; HO-Hot
Note:Temperatures in Centigrade.
Source of Basic Data: Local - PAGASA; Global - Accuweather.com
DAILY WEATHER
Beijing Seoul
Bangkok
Hanoi
Hong Kong
Taipei
Manila
Kuala
Lumpur
Singapore
Jakarta
6 March 2014
Asia
SYNOPSIS: A northeast monsoon will affect Luzon
and Visayas.
FORECAST: Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and
Visayas will have fair weather aside from isolated light
rains. Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with
isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.
City Lo Hi Sky
Bangkok 25 33 S
Beijing -3 8 S
Hanoi 19 24 R
Hong Kong 16 18 R
Jakarta 24 31 T
Kuala Lumpur 23 33 PC
Seoul -4 6 S
Singapore 23 32 CD
Taipei 16 20 SH
Tokyo 1 9 PC
Philippines Lo Hi Sky
Metro Manila 22 31 PC
Baguio 13 22 PC
Tagaytay 20 29 PC
Clark Zone 23 32 PC
Metro Cebu 23 31 PC
Metro Davao 23 33 PC
High Tide (0.56 m) 1:36 a.m. Low Tide (0.27 m) 6:51 a.m.
Sunrise 6:10 a.m. Sunset 6:04 p.m.
City Lo Hi Sky
Amsterdam 5 11 PC
Brisbane 20 28 SH
Chicago -11 -3 SN
Frankfurt 2 13 S
Honolulu 19 26 S
Johannesburg 14 21 T
Lisbon 10 19 S
London 6 12 PC
Los Angeles 14 22 PC
Madrid 6 18 S
Melbourne 13 22 S
City Lo Hi Sky

Montreal -21 -9 SN
Moscow -5 0 CD
New York -7 3 PC
Paris 3 12 S
Riyadh 20 31 S
Rome 4 16 PC
San Francisco 11 17 PC
Sydney 20 26 T
Vancouver 7 11 R
Washington -5 4 PC
Zurich 0 9 PC
Tokyo
PAT ROQUE/GREENPEACE
Boon or health threat?
Von Hernandez (left), Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director, trooped to the Supreme Court to fle a petition to uphold the Writ of Kalikasan on the feld trials of
the genetically modifed organism (GMO) Bt Talong (eggplant). Mr. Hernandez fled their consolidated legal arguments to counter the petition by pro-GMO groups who are
seeking to overturn the Writ of Kalikasan granted in May 2012.
Soft drink tax to generate P10.5-B revenues
THE JAPAN International Co-
operation Agency (JICA) con-
cluded an Anti-Crime Capability
Enhancement Program with the
Philippine National Police (PNP).
We are confident that the
PNP will continue and develop
the legacy of the PNP-JICA Pro-
gram and extend it nationwide
towards genuine public service
to the Filipinos, said JICA Chief
Representative in the Philippines
Takahiro Sasaki in a press state-
ment yesterday.
Among the components of the
Anti-Crime Capability Enhance-
ment Program was the Automated
Fingerprint Identication System
(AFIS) to fortify the PNPs crime
identication database.
The AFIS is a database system
that helps identify possible match-
es of ngerprints collected during
investigations. It has helped the
ngerprint examiners in the PNP
to establish matches and identify
possible crime suspects.
In a series of AFIS-related as-
sistance in the said JICA program,
AFIS operators and fingerprint
examiners have been trained to
operate and manage the system;
field investigators have been
taught in scientic approaches to
investigating crimes; and regu-
lar trainings and performance
monitoring activities have been
conducted.
JICA also assisted PNP in
crafting a mechanism on fire-
arm identication to track down
firearm-related cases. PNP also
acquired Integrated Ballistics
Identication System. JICA said
the number of ngerprints gath-
ered and submitted from eld of
investigations has steadily in-
creased.
Furthermore, AFIS matches
have gradually increased, thereby
further contributing to the solu-
tion of crimes.
PNP is expected to launch an
action plan that cites the steps the
agency is going to take to continue
what has been started in the said
JICA program.
Japanese Ambassador Toshi-
nao Urabe, Mr. Sasaki, Depart-
ment of the Interior and Local
Government Secretary Manuel A.
Roxas II, and PNP Chief Alan L.M.
Purisima will join the programs
closing ceremonies today at Camp
Crame in Quezon City. Maria
Laura V. Angeles
BUDGET SECRETARY Floren-
cio B. Abad yesterday said he sees
nothing wrong with lawmakers
endorsing projects to diferent
government agencies for funding,
saying it is all an inevitable part of
patronage politics.
Theres nothing wrong if legis-
lators recommend projects. Thats
part of their job, Mr. Abad told
reporters on the sidelines of the
Joint Congressional Committee
on Public Expenditures yesterday.
The Priority Development As-
sistance Fund (PDAF) commonly
known as congressional pork bar-
rel, was removed from the 2014
budget after the Supreme Court
(SC) declared it unconstitutional.
Earlier, PDAF releases were
halted with the high courts issu-
ance of a temporary restraining
order (TRO) on the remaining
unreleased PDAF allocation of
lawmakers for 2013 following
revelations that billions of pesos
in pork barrel funds had been fun-
neled to bogus nongovernment
organizations.
The scheme was purportedly
orchestrated by businesswoman
Janet Lim-Napoles in collusion
with government officials and
lawmakers who received hefty
kickbacks.
Despite the abolition of the
PDAF in this years budget, law-
makers are allowed to lobby with
the government agencies to fund
their pet projects and beneciaries.
Mr. Abad def ended sai d
practice, saying it was the job of
lawmakers to take care of their
constituents needs, especially of
those who were the former bene-
ciaries of their PDAF.
They are policy makers and
they take care of their constitu-
ents. Its part of their work, he
said.
The implementing agencies
will issue guidelines, but every-
body can make recommendations,
including legislators. Theres
nothing wrong with making rec-
ommendations, thats their job,
otherwise, their constituents will
get mad at them, Mr. Abad added.
Asked if this would not mean
the perpetuation of political pa-
tronage, the Budget chief said:
There has always been political
patronage. You know why, because
people will always go to their rep-
resentative. When they wake up
in the morning... people line up.
Can you eliminate that? Thats
something you cannot eliminate.
Until we are able to address sub-
stantially the problem of poverty,
people will always find a way to
go to their mayor, governor, con-
gressman, Mr. Abad said.
With this, he reiterated that
recommending projects to the
implementing agencies does not
circumvent the SC ruling on the
pork barrel that prohibits law-
makers from intervening in the
post-enactment of the budget.
I think what the Supreme
Court wants to avoid is (that)
you treat the PDAF as your own
money. But if you are recommend-
ing to an agency that, Please give
attention to this because he needs
medical assistance, whats wrong
with that? Please attend to this
scholar because if he cant con-
tinue, he will drop out. Is there
anything wrong with that? he
explained.
Mr. Abad noted that it is now up
to the agencies which proposals or
recommendations of lawmakers
would be granted.
Asked how the agencies would
guarantee that all lawmakers pro-
posing projects would be treated
fairly, Mr. Abad said: Youll have
to ask the implementing agen-
cies.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abad also
disputed reports on the alleged
existence of the so-called hidden
pork saying the amount allocated
for the PDAF has been distributed
to government agencies.
This, as he denied allegations
that Malacaang is behind the dis-
tribution of the hidden pork to
lawmakers who will vote in favor
of amending the economic pro-
visions 1987 Constitution. We
have no knowledge of that. What
happened was pork was realigned
to six agencies. After that, we have
nothing to do with that, he said.
Earlier, Congress realigned the
lawmakers PDAF allocation for
2014 to line agencies increasing
the initial budget for the Public
Works, Social Welfare, Education,
Health, and Labor departments
originally proposed by Malaca-
ang.
Following the SC ruling declar-
ing the PDAF unconstitutional
and ending the practice of mem-
bers of the legislature to nominate
pet projects through lump sum
allocations, Congress removed the
PDAF of lawmakers in the 2014
national budget signed by Presi-
dent Benigno S. C. Aquino III Dec.
20 last year.
Last Tuesday, Party-list Rep.
Antonio L. Tinio (ACT Teachers)
claimed Malacaang is using hid-
den PDAF to hasten the Charter
change process.
Mr. Tinio alleged that Mr.
Aquino and his allies will rely on
the hidden pork amend the 1987
Philippine Constitution, and re-
vealed the formal and informal
practices used by legislators to
access it, including a form, he
claims is circulating among House
members, which serves as listing
of beneciaries identied by law-
makers.
The committee approval of
the Charter change resolution
after only a few meetings is not
surprising, no doubt, Malacaang
has been using its wide arsenal
of congressional and presidential
pork to grease the approval de-
spite heavy substantive and pro-
cedural objections to it, he said in
a statement.
Mr. Tinio claimed P20.8 bil-
lion worth of House pork was
included into the 2014 budgets of
six line agencies, and another P1.8
billion in Senate pork.
In sustaining the Congressio-
nal pork barrel through hidden or
informal, Malacaang is violating
the law and deceiving the public.
They can only persist because of
the conscious and wilful partici-
pation of the President and his
Cabinet, he noted.
For his part, House Speaker
Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr., in a
chance interview with reporters
yesterday, also denied Mr. Tinios
allegations noting that the issue is
just being resurrected. Of course
not. None. I denied [that] form so
many, many times [before], he
said. Imee Charlee C. Delavin
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance
(DoF) on Tuesday said the govern-
ment could generate about P10.5-
billion additional revenues by
imposing a 10% ad valorem tax on
soft drinks and other carbonated
beverages.
About P10.5-billion revenues
can be generated from higher
tax on soft drinks and other non-
alcoholic, carbonated drinks,
Stella B. Montejo, head of the DoF
Fiscal Policy and Planning Ofce
told the House committee on ways
and means during the hearing on
House Bill (HB) 3365 or the pro-
posed An Act Imposing a 10% Ad
Valorem Tax on Soft drinks and
Carbonated Drinks.
Citing studies showing that
the increased price would lead to
reduced consumption, Ms. Mon-
tejo noted that raising the prices
of soft drinks and carbonated bev-
Bill seeking 10% ad valorem levy on carbonated beverages welcomed
erages as a result of imposing
additional tax will consequently
reduce consumption.
The National Tax Research
Center (NTRC) through its offi-
cer-in-charge, Deputy Executive
Director Teresita L. Solomon,
projected an additional revenue
of P7.7 billion for the government
cofers.
BETTER HEALTH
While the Finance department
cited the nancial gains of impos-
ing additional tax on soft drinks
and other carbonated drinks, the
Department of Health (DoH) on
the same hearing cited the pos-
sible health benets of the move,
which the department said would
possibly decrease cases of dia-
betes once consumption of said
sweet products will be reduced.
He a l t h Unde r s e c r et a r y
Nemesio Gaco said the reduced
consumption will ensure better
health for Filipinos, as he noted
that soft drinks caloric content is
too high causing various ailments
such as diabetes.
Mr. Gaco said about 44 Filipi-
nos die of diabetes everyday, and
medical experts said this could be
attributed to excessive consump-
tion of soft drinks.
Meanwhile, lawyer Adel A. Ta-
mano, vice-president for public
affairs and communications of
Coca-Cola Philippines, Inc., and
who also represented the Bever-
age Industry Association of the
Philippines at the hearing, said
the tax would impact adversely
not only on soft drinks makers
but more importantly, retailers,
who he called are the pillars of
the industry. There are many
ways to provide employment and
income, not only through taxes,
Mr. Tamano said.
RICE BLAMED
He noted that it is not fair to de-
monize a specic beverage as
being the sole cause of diabetes
among Filipinos.
In the Philippines, in terms of
percentage, where do most Fili-
pinos get their calories? Its not
from soft drinks. It accounts for
less than 10% of the caloric intake.
Its from rice. If the issue here is
caloric intake, dont look at soft
drinks, he said.
HB 3365 was filed on Nov. 18
last year by Nueva Ecija Rep. Es-
trellita B. Suansing (1
st
district). It
was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means last Nov. 25 for
consideration.
The proposed bill seeks to in-
sert a new section. which will be
designated as Section 150-A Chap-
ter IV, Title VI of the National
Internal Revenue Code.
The new section will read: Soft
drinks and Carbonated Drinks.
There shall be levied, assessed
and collected a ten percent (10%)
ad valorem tax on soft drinks and
carbonated drinks sold in bottle
and other tight container. The
amount to be collected under this
Act shall be designated as the Re-
habilitation Fund for victims of
calamities to be allotted for the
rehabilitation program such as
livelihood development, mass
housing, road construction and
other infrastructure projects on
places affected by sever and de-
structive natural calamities, the
bill read.
In filing HB 3365, Ms. Su-
ansing said the country needs
necessary funds and revenues for
the rehabilitation of areas heavily
damaged by the destructive ca-
lamities that hit the country last
year including typhoon Yolanda
(international name: Haiyan)
which killed at least 6,201 and
caused infrastructure and farm
damage pegged at some P39.82
billion.
Aside from rehabilitation
fund, another purpose of the bill
is to curb the consumption of soft
drinks and carbonated drinks.
There have been studies which
have shown that consumption of
soft drinks and other carbonated
drinks increase the risk of devel-
oping health problems, she added
in the explanatory note of the bill.
Ms. Suansing noted that taxa-
tion of non-alcoholic beverage is
not a new concept.
Other countries like the USA,
France, Netherlands and Finland
have realized the need to impose
taxes on soft drinks and carbon-
ated drinks, she said.
At present, Ms. Suansing said
the soft drink industry is being
subject to value-added tax (VAT),
income tax, withholding tax, lo-
cal and real property taxes, and
customs duties. On the other
hand, avored and colored syrups
used in the manufacturing of soft
drinks are not subject to excise
tax, and only to the 12% VAT and
customs duties if these are im-
ported, she added.
Abad defends project endorsements by legislators
PNP anti-crime
capabilities boosted
Thursday, March 6, 2014 12/S1
The
Nation
Bangsamoro plan gets funds
WB allots $540,000 for Mindanaos development
THE WORLD BANK (WB) has
earmarked $540,000 (about
P24.1 million) for the creation of
a Bangsamoro Development Plan
(BDP) aimed at ensuring inclusive
growth in Mindanao, the multilat-
eral lending agency said in a press
statement.
The WB said the BDP will
provide a short- and medium-
term development strategy for
Bangsamoro areas in the region.
Specically, the BDP will iden-
tify investments and programs
to promote inclusive growth,
stability, and help create jobs in
the Bangsamoro from 2014 until
2020, the WB said.
Bangsamoro will be the new en-
tity that will replace the Autono-
mous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) based on the Framework
Agreement between the Philip-
pine government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Dr. Saffrullah M. Dipatuan,
chairman of the BDA Board of
Directors, was quoted in the
statement as saying that the plan
would play a crucial rule in the
establishment and success of the
Bangsamoro.
Through extensive consulta-
tions, the BDP will set the strategic
direction for the new Bangsamoro
government by identifying poten-
tial areas for investment, private
sector promotion and cooperation
with other regions in the country,
Mr. Dipatuan said.
The BDPs planning process is
funded from the Mindanao Trust
Fund (MTF) administered by the
WB. The MTF, which started in
2006, is a $28-million multi-
ILOILO CITY The prime suspect in
the murder of an Ati tribe leader in
Boracay last year was arrested Mon-
day evening in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
Daniel Celestino, a native of
barangay Manoc-Manoc in Boracay
Island, is the alleged gunman of Dex-
ter Condez, 26, community organizer
and spokesperson of the Boracay Ati
Tribal Organization (BATO).
Initial reports from the Police
Regional Offce-Western Visayas
said police intelligence operatives
arrested Mr. Celestino in Laguna at
10:40 p.m. on Monday.
Mr. Celestino is facing murder
charges before the Regional Trial
Court in Aklan province.
Mr. Condez was gunned down in
the evening of Feb. 22, 2013 while
on his way home to their community
in Manoc-Manoc village.
Several witnesses tagged Mr.
Celestino, who used to work as a
security guard of Crown Regency
Boracay Resorts, as the gunman.
The murder case is believed to
be an offshoot of the land dispute
between the Ati tribe and several pri-
vate individuals who are claiming the
2.1 hectares awarded to the natives
in 2011 as their ancestral domain.
Last week, police offcers and Army
soldiers were deployed when the land
grant was formally awarded to the
tribe. Francis Allan L. Angelo
ZAMBOANGA CITY A vice-
mayor of a town in Basilan prov-
ince was abducted in a local
shopping mall here on Tuesday
afternoon.
Police Inspector Ariel T. Hu-
esca, spokesperson of the regional
police ofce, said Arsina Q. Nanoh,
vice-mayor of the Hadji Mutamad
town was abducted by unidenti-
ed men past 2 p.m. on Tuesday at
Mindpro City Mall.
Elements of the city police im-
mediately conducted hot pursuit
and rescue operations for possible
interception of the suspects and
rescue of the victim, Mr. Huesca
said.
Mindpro, where the victim was
taken, is located at the heart of the
city, and just a few meters away
from the Zamboanga City Cathe-
dral and the Ateneo de Zamboanga
University.
This city has been experiencing
a problem on abduction of civil-
ians for years now. Last month,
suspected members of the Abu
Sayyaf Group took a young busi-
nesswoman, Sabrina Ikbala Voon,
in Mercedes, a far-ung village of
the city.
Many suspects in criminal
activities here are members of
lawless groups based in the island-
provinces of Basilan and Sulu,
police sources said.
Mr. Huesca said the city police
ofce is now conducting an inves-
tigation to determine the identi-
ties of the suspects.
Zamboanga City Mayor Ma.
Isabelle Climaco- Salazar on
Wednesday issued an urgent call
for all the barangays to activate
their respective civilian volunteer
organizations and strengthen the
security patrol in their areas.
A reinforced barangay defense
system is very crucial in the drive
against lawlessness, she said.
Albert F. Arcilla
By Mikhail Franz E. Flores
Reporter
donor facility that supports eco-
nomic and social recovery and
promotes inclusive and effective
governance in conflict-affected
areas of Mindanao.
The MTF program serves as
a mechanism for international
development partner to pool re-
sources and coordinate support
for peace and development.
The trust fund draws on recent
contributions from the European
Union and the Australian Depart-
ment of Foreign Afairs and Trade.
The other development part-
ners supporting the MTF are the
following: the New Zealand Min-
istry of Foreign Afairs and Trade;
the Foreign Afairs, Trade and De-
velopment Canada; the Swedish
International Development Co-
operation Agency; and the United
States Agency for International
Development.
The BDP, which will reect the
goals of the Bangsamoro people,
the indigenous peoples, and other
sectors in Mindanao, will help
strengthen the Bangsamoro re-
gion to become the anchor and
the sanctuary of our aspirations
of shared prosperity and shared
security, Presidential Adviser
on the Peace Process Teresita Q.
Deles said in a statement.
WB Country Director Motoo
Konishi said the crafting of the
BDP will help strengthen the
confidence in the ongoing peace
process.
This planning process demon-
strates how the government and
the MILF with the support of
development partners, civil so-
ciety groups, private sector and
other stakeholders are work-
ing together to deliver a tangible
dividend to communities from the
peace process, Mr. Konishi said in
the same statement.
Meanwhile, an economist from
the WB said the countrys econo-
my needs to generate about 14.6
million jobs in the next four years
if the government wants to ensure
inclusive growth.
JOBS NEEDED
During the regional dialogue held
at the University of South East-
ern Philippines in Davao City on
Tuesday, WB senior economist
Karl Kendrick Tiu Chua said:
Only half of the 500,000 college
graduates every year can be ab-
sorbed in business process out-
sourcing (BPO), manufacturing,
real estate and nance while the
other half has the option to nd
work abroad.
While a sustained 7% gross do-
mestic product growth per year
and the removal of constraints in
fast-growing sectors like the BPO
industry can provide more work-
ers with good jobs, Mr. Chua said
12.4 million Filipinos will still be
unemployed or underemployed.
Mr. Chua blamed the long
history of policy distortions that
slowed down the agriculture and
manufacturing sectors in the last
six decades for the lack of better
jobs for Filipinos, despite the
countrys continued growth.
He said this has resulted in the
inability of the agriculture sector,
and the labor-intensive manufac-
turing industry to take of.
Among the policies he cited as
the reason for the unavailability of
jobs are the monopolies and lack
of competition, complex regula-
tions, insecure property rights,
and lack of investments.
Monopolies charge high price
for low quality, so you see airlines
with high cost but poor services
that cancel flights regularly, he
said.
In agriculture, he said these in-
clude protectionist policies such
as that of rice self-sufficiency,
large subsidies for inputs and
distortions in institutions that
prevent broad and secure access
to land by small landholders.
There is a high degree of
landlessness which has not been
brought down by decades of agri-
cultural reform, Mr. Chua said.
He said high prices of food and
agriculture inputs have in turn
contributed to high statutory min-
imum wages and high production
cost in downstream agribusiness,
manufacturing and services which
raised the cost of living, reduced
employment and dampened real
income.
A business leader in Davao
City agreed with the economists
comments. The economy is in-
deed growing but the question is:
where are the jobs?, said Antonio
T. dela Cruz, president of Davao
City Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, Inc.
Mr. dela Cruz cited the problem
of education and job mismatch
that hounds 46,000 graduates of
Davao City alone every year.
He said even the Davao cham-
ber members are guilty of accept-
ing applicants who are overquali-
ed.
However, a survey conducted
by local schools show that local
industries put a premium now on
workers who can easily accept in-
structions and perform better.
The question is whether busi-
nesses are ready to hire non-de-
gree holders, he added.
The challenge for Davao is how
to bring in investments that can
be translated into job-generating
opportunities, Mr. dela Cruz said.
with Carmencita A. Carillo in
Davao City
Vice-mayor abducted
in Zamboanga City
Suspect in Ati leader
murder arrested
Phil Aussie Bahrain Canadian HKong Japan Saudi Spore Swiss UK US EMU
one unit of currency peso dollar dinar dollar dollar yen rial dollar franc pound dollar euro
Philippines 1.0000 0.0250 0.0084 0.0248 0.1732 2.2810 0.0837 0.0283 0.0198 0.0134 0.0223 0.0162
Australia 40.0277 1.0000 0.3367 0.9907 6.9313 91.3041 3.3496 1.1332 0.7925 0.5358 0.8932 0.6502
Bahrain 118.8790 2.9699 1.0000 2.9423 20.5855 271.1656 9.9480 3.3654 2.3537 1.5912 2.6527 1.9309
Canada 40.4030 1.0094 0.3399 1.0000 6.9963 92.1601 3.3810 1.1438 0.7999 0.5408 0.9016 0.6562
Hong Kong 5.7749 0.1443 0.0486 0.1429 1.0000 13.1727 0.4833 0.1635 0.1143 0.0773 0.1289 0.0938
Japan 0.4384 0.0110 0.0037 0.0109 0.0759 1.0000 0.0367 0.0124 0.0087 0.0059 0.0098 0.0071
Saudi Arabia 11.9500 0.2985 0.1005 0.2958 2.0693 27.2582 1.0000 0.3383 0.2366 0.1599 0.2667 0.1941
Singapore 35.3235 0.8825 0.2971 0.8743 6.1167 80.5737 2.9559 1.0000 0.6994 0.4728 0.7882 0.5737
Switzerland 50.5072 1.2618 0.4249 1.2501 8.7460 115.2080 4.2265 1.4298 1.0000 0.6760 1.1270 0.8204
United Kingdom 74.7111 1.8665 0.6285 1.8491 12.9372 170.4177 6.2520 2.1151 1.4792 1.0000 1.6671 1.2135
United States 44.8150 1.1196 0.3770 1.1092 7.7603 102.2240 3.7502 1.2687 0.8873 0.5998 1.0000 0.7279
EMU 61.5668 1.5381 0.5179 1.5238 10.6611 140.4352 5.1520 1.7429 1.2190 0.8241 1.3738 1.0000
PESO CROSS RATES
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
source: BSP
MONEY QUOTATIONS
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
EXCHANGE RATES
NEW YORK-one US$ expressed in respective
unit of foreign currency
EMU 1.3736/38
United Kingdom 1.6668/71
Canada 1.1092/97
Switzerland 0.8873/76
Japan 102.23/26
India 61.89/92
Mexico 13.2790/40
Denmark 5.4323/33
Norway 6.0118/58
Sweden 6.4444/74
Singapore 1.2687/97
Australia 0.8947/57
New Zealand 0.8388/95
Hong Kong 7.7609/15
S. Africa 10.7580/80
Hungary 225.86/86
Israel 3.4828/28
Iceland 112.61/61
Czech Koruna 19.902/932
LONDON - one pound sterling expressed in
respective unit of foreign currency at 1637 GMT
US 1.6664 1.6668
Swiss France 1.4774 1.4789
Japan 170.2400 170.42
Norway 10.0084 10.0266
EURO 1.2129 1.2133
Canada 1.8455 1.8477
Denmark 9.0504 9.0567
Sweden 10.7334 10.7581
JAPAN-in per unit of foreign currency
UK 0.5868 0.5871
Switzerland 0.8674 0.8679
SINGAPORE-in S$ per unit of foreign currency
US 1.2699 1.2709
UK 2.1160 2.1181
Australia 1.1390 1.1404
Per 100
Hong Kong 0.1637 0.1637
Japan 1.2421 1.2434
BANK NOTES (Hong Kong)-in HK$ per unit of
foreign currency; TT-telegraphic transfer
Australia 6.8110 6.9060
Canada 7.8510 7.9380
India 1.7500 2.0500
Japan 7.1100 7.2060
Korea 0.8180 0.8880
Philippines 0.1750 0.1900
Brunei 5.3350 5.4410
China 1.0510 1.0620
Denmark 1.4850 1.5550
Norway 1.3770 1.4470
Sweden 1.1800 1.2510
EUR 11.4850 11.5880
Singapore 5.3350 5.4410
Switzerland 6.9970 7.0970
Taiwan 23.3000 25.3000
Thailand 22.5000 24.5000
UK 15.8890 -16.1900
USA 7.7240 7.7940
Japan T/C 7.1040 7.1690
UK T/C 15.8850 -16.0730
USA T/C 7.7340 7.7860
New Zealand 5.8660 5.9660
South Africa 0.9660 1.1660
MONEY RATES
Prime rate-charged by large
comml banks to their best corp. borrowers;
Broker Loan Rate-charged to broker on stock
exchange collaterals; Federal Funds-reserves
traded among comml banks for overnight use
Prime rate 3.2500
Discount 0.7500
Broker Loan Rate 2.0000
Federal Funds Rate 0.25
EURODOLLAR DEP (New York)
One month 0.1100 0.1900
Two months 0.1500 0.2300
Three months 0.1600 0.2600
Four months 0.1800 0.2800
Five months 0.2000 0.4000
Six months 0.2100 0.4100
Nine months 0.2600 0.3600
One year 0.3500 0.5500
MONEY RATES (London)
Euro$ Depo
One month 0.1400 0.2400
Three months 0.2400 0.3700
Six months 0.3000 0.4300
One year 0.4900 0.6300
Forwards & Deposits (Singapore)
One month 0.1788 0.3663
Two months 0.2500 0.3700
Three months 0.2225 0.4100
Six months 0.2791 0.4666
Nine months 0.3700 0.5000
One year 0.4072 0.5947
LIBOR RATE -London Interbank Offered
Rates charged in US$ for Eurodollar loans
Rates fxed at 11:00 a.m. London time
One Month 0.1565
Two Months 0.1965
Three months 0.2354
Six months 0.3315
One year 0.552
* * * GOLD BULLION * * *
WORLD BULLION-in US$ per troy
ounce, rupees/10 gms, won/gram
Ldn morning fx 1339.50
Ldn aftrn fx 1334.75
London close 1336.50 1337.45
New York 1340.20 1340.70
Zurich 1,340.20 1,340.70
Bombay 24 carat 0.00 0.00
Karachi 24 carat 0.00 0.00
Dubai 24 carat 0.00 0.00
US Gold Prices ($/Troy ounce)
Engelhard gold (bullion) 1336.92
Engelhard gold (fabricated) 1437.19
Handy & Harman (base price) 1334.75
Handy & Harman (fabricated) 1441.53
Krugerrand 1297.56 1300.56
source: REUTERS
BSP REFERENCE RATES
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
source: BSP
Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent
of foreign of US$1 of foreign of RPP in of foreign of EURO
currency in in foreign currency in foreign currency in in foreign
Currency US Dollar currency RP peso currency EURO currency

Convertible currencies with BSP
US dollar 1.000000 1.000000 44.8150 0.022314 0.727908 1.373800
Japanese yen 0.009782 102.228583 0.4384 2.281022 0.007120 140.449438
UK pound 1.667100 0.599844 74.7111 0.013385 1.213495 0.824066
Hongkong dollar 0.128861 7.760300 5.7749 0.173163 0.093799 10.661094
Swiss franc 1.127015 0.887300 50.5072 0.019799 0.820363 1.218973
Canada dollar 0.901551 1.109200 40.4030 0.024751 0.656246 1.523819
Singapore dollar 0.788208 1.268701 35.3235 0.028310 0.573743 1.742941
Australia dollar 0.893176 1.119600 40.0277 0.024983 0.650150 1.538107
Bahrain dinar * 2.652661 0.376980 118.8790 0.008412 1.930893 0.517895
Kuwait dinar N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Saudi Arabia rial 0.266652 3.750206 11.9500 0.083682 0.194098 5.152037
Brunei dollar 0.785114 1.273700 35.1849 0.028421 0.571491 1.749809
Indonesia rupiah 0.000086 11627.906977 0.0039 256.410256 0.000063 15873.015873
Thailand baht 0.030845 32.420165 1.3823 0.723432 0.022452 44.539462
U. A. E. Dirham 0.272257 3.673000 12.2012 0.081959 0.198178 5.045969
E.M.U. euro 1.373800 0.727908 61.5668 0.016243 1.000000 1.000000
South Korea won 0.000934 1070.663812 0.0419 23.866348 0.000680 1470.588235
China yuan ** 0.162787 6.142997 7.2953 0.137075 0.118494 8.439246

Others (Not Convertible with BSP)
Argentina peso 0.126839 7.884010 5.6843 0.175923 0.092327 10.831068
Brazil real 0.427241 2.340599 19.1468 0.052228 0.310992 3.215517
Denmark kroner 0.184084 5.432303 8.2497 0.121217 0.133996 7.462909
India rupee 0.016159 61.885018 0.7242 1.380834 0.011762 85.019554
Malaysia ringgit 0.305157 3.277002 13.6756 0.073123 0.222126 4.501949
Mexico new peso 0.075307 13.278978 3.3749 0.296305 0.054817 18.242516
New Zealand dollar 0.8371 1.194600 37.5146 0.026656 0.609332 1.641141
Norway kroner 0.16634 6.011783 7.4545 0.134147 0.121080 8.259002
Pakistan rupee 0.009547 104.744946 0.4278 2.337541 0.006949 143.905598
South African rand 0.092345 10.828957 4.1384 0.241639 0.067219 14.876746
Sweden kroner 0.155173 6.444420 6.9541 0.143800 0.112952 8.853318
Syria pound 0.006947 143.947027 0.3113 3.212335 0.005057 197.745699
Taiwan dollar 0.033024 30.281008 1.4800 0.675676 0.024038 41.600799
Venezuela bolivar 0.159129 6.284210 7.1314 0.140225 0.115831 8.633267
SDR Rate = $1.54618 SDR GOLD Buying: $1,336.50 SILVER Buying: $21.20
* Various banks in Bahrain as quoted in Reuters Screen
** Asian Time Closing Rate as of March 4, 2014
Percent per annum
FOREIGN Interest Rates
FOREX RATE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
Current: P44.759
Volume: $758.50 M
Previous: P44.815
PDS weighted
average rate
Source: BSP
T-BILL 91-DAY
MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014
January 10, 2011 March 3, 2014
Average yield Current: 1.000
Previous: 0.693 (Jan. 6, 2013)
Daily Volume
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
INTERBANK RATES
Demand Rate HIGH: 2 3/32% LOW: 2% AVE.: 2 1/32%
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
High Low
LENDING RATES
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
MARKET WATCH
UNIVERSAL BANKS
LOCAL BANKS
Banco de Oro Unibank 6.0000 3.0000
Bank of the Philippine Islands 6.0000 3.5000
China Banking Corporation 8.0000 4.2500
Development Bank of the Philis. 6.6500 4.5000
East West Bank 6.5000 5.7500
Land Bank of the Phils. 6.5000 3.5000
MetroBank and Trust Co. 8.0000 6.0000
Philippine National Bank 8.4000 8.4000
Philippine Trust Co. 6.5000 4.5000
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. 7.7500 5.7500
Security Bank Corporation 8.4000 6.4000
Union Bank of the Philippines 8.5000 6.5000
United Coconut Planters Bank 7.0000 5.0000
AVERAGE 7.2462 5.1577

BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
ANZ Bank 5.0000 3.4000
Deutsche Bank 6.2500 3.2000
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank 6.2500 2.9000
ING Bank 4.4000 2.4000
Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. 6.0000 1.2500
Standard Chartered Bank 9.0000 3.0000
AVERAGE 6.1500 2.6917

COMMERCIAL BANKS
LOCAL BANKS:
Asia United Bank 7.0000 6.0000
Bank of Commerce 6.4375 3.9375
BDO Private Bank 6.4580 4.4580
Phil. Bank of Communications 7.0000 5.0000
Philippine Veterans Bank 7.5000 5.5000
Robinsons Bank Corp. 8.0000 5.2500
AVERAGE 7.0659 5.0243

BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
Bangkok Bank 8.4000 4.4400
Bank of America 5.6930 3.6930
Bank of China 6.0000 2.2500
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi 5.2500 3.5000
Citibank, N.A. 7.0400 2.8000
JPMorgan Chase Bank 3.9084 3.9084
Korea Exchange Bank 8.0000 4.5000
Mega Intl. Comml. Bank Co. Ltd. 8.2500 4.0000
AVERAGE 6.5677 3.6364

SUBSIDIARIES OF FOREIGN BANKS
Chinatrust Bank 5.4330 4.4330
Maybank 7.0000 6.0000
AVERAGE 6.2165 5.2165
GENERAL AVERAGE 6.8134 4.3677
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Jan 07 Feb 04 Mar 04
LIBOR (US$)
90-days 0.2421 0.2365 0.2354
180 0.3447 0.3330 0.3315
SIBOR (SG$)
90-days 0.4036 0.4050 0.4021
180 0.4819 0.4819 0.4814
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
P13.758 B
5.6
ctvs

THE PESO weakened against the

dollar for a third straight session
yesterday while other Asian cur-
rencies continued to rally as fears
of an immediate military conict
in Ukraine eased.
The local currency lost two-
and-a-half centavos to close
at P44.765 to a dollar yesterday
against its P44.740-per-dollar n-
ish on Tuesday. It traded within
the P44.68- to P44.79-per-dollar
range yesterday and is expected to
weaken further to P44.90 against
the greenback today.
Currencies elsewhere in Asia,
except in Singapore, all gained.
The yuan rose as traders said
the central bank was spotted
reducing its intervention in the
market after having engineered a
sudden depreciation of the yuan
since last month.
South Koreas won gained as
investors added bullish bets fol-
lowing its gains in overnight non-
deliverable markets. Local im-
porters, however, bought dollars
for payments, limiting the wons
appreciation, traders said.
The Thai baht strengthened as
Bangkok shares hit a near three-
month high, while some investors
took profits on the second best-
performing emerging Asian cur-
rency of the year.
The Taiwan dollar advanced
on inflows from foreign finan-
cial institutions for the islands
stocks.
Local traders said the peso
missed out on the rally given a lack
of clear leads at home.
They also said the February in-
ation data, which fell within fore-
casts, cemented beliefs the central
bank is unlikely to raise rates at its
policy meeting later this month.
Higher interest rates on the
local front could prop up the peso
against the dollar as investors
seek higher-yielding assets. With
that prospect not yet on the ho-
rizon, investors did not favor the
peso.
The market focused on [Vladi-
mir] Putins words that there will
be no military intervention [in
Ukraine] yet, which somehow pro-
vided a sigh of relief to investors,
a currency trader said in a phone
interview.
Putins statement somehow
alleviated fears, but in reality, its
not a major relief. The threat still
exists, another currency trader
said.
Fears over a possible full-scale
war over the Crimea a disputed
region thought to be threatened
by a Russian takeover have
forced a rush to assets deemed
as safe havens early in the week,
hurting most Asian stocks and
currencies.
But Russian President Vladimir
Putin on Tuesday had ordered his
troops to return to base and said he
reserved the right to use force in
Ukraine only as a last resort, ton-
ing down tensions over Ukraine.
There is still the absence of
market-moving news, a trader
from a Philippine bank said, ex-
plaining the pesos continued
weakness.
Previously, we experienced
the peso to be in higher highs and
lower lows, then so far this week,
just highs and lows. The range has
compressed. It shows the indeci-
siveness in the market. The market
remains confused, another trader
said.
In an e-mail, MetisEtrade cur-
rency strategist Yroen Guaya B.
Melgar said: One important data
release that could afect USDPHP
values [today] is the US non-
manufacturing PMI (Purchasing
Managers Index)... A value above
the forecast 53.8 for this survey on
business conditions may contrib-
ute extra momentum to the US
dollars strength versus the Philip-
pine peso. T.P.O.
Asia forex rallies but peso left out
The peso missed out on the rally in Asian currencies, which recovered from losses
earlier triggered by fears over a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine.
BW FILE PHOTO
YAO-LED Philippine Business
Bank (PBB) has won regula-
tors approval to expand in Vi-
sayas and Mindanao with 21 new
branches to be opened this year,
it said in a filing with the stock
exchange.
But the bank said the expansion
will not stop there, as it will seek
ve more licenses to boost its pres-
ence in restricted areas in time
for the central banks full lifting
of branching restrictions in July
this year.
The bank currently has 100
branches after adding 22 last
year mainly catering to small
and medium enterprises in the
country.
The banking arm of the Yao
Group of Companies said the new
licenses seek to increase the banks
footprint in the local and regional
market.
PBB is keeping its promise
to give clients what they need by
bringing its products and services
in more places in the Philippines
and provide better opportunities
and benets to more Filipinos by
expanding its presence toward the
Visayas and Mindanao regions,
particularly in Cebu and Davao,
it added.
PBB President and Chief Exec-
utive Ofcer Roland R. Avante said
in the statement that the branch
expansion is in line with the banks
goal to provide its clients access
to PBBs products and services,
while at the same time enhancing
customer convenience and experi-
ence.
The bank will increase its
branches in the following areas in
Luzon: Taguig City; Taytay, Rizal;
Balanga Bataan; Vigan, Ilocos Sur;
Santiago, Isabela and La Trinidad
in Benguet; San Pedro, Laguna;
Calapan, Oriental Mindoro; Iriga,
Camarines Sur; and Molino, Ba-
coor.
The bank is adding branches
in Cebu and Davao, as well as in
Dumaguete, Negros Oriental and
in Aklan.
It will also set up branches in
Dipolog City; Ozamis in Misamis
Occidental; and General Santos in
South Cotabato.
Mr. Avante added: The bank
will apply for five more licenses
in [former] restricted areas in the
second quarter this year.
In particular, he said, PBB will
add two branches in Manila and
Quezon City and one in Paranaque
City cities considered by the
BSP as restricted zones.
But the banking regulator is
expected to fully lift the bank
Yao-led bank to add more
branches in restricted areas
CEBU CITY Sun Life Asset
Management Co., Inc. targets to
attract more clients from the mid-
income segment and plans to in-
troduce a new program that will
bring in investments from young
professionals and business pro-
cess outsourcing (BPO) workers to
further boost sales.
Top company officials target
a 20-30% growth in gross sales
this year on prospects strong con-
sumption and higher state spend-
ing would accompany an expected
6.5-7.5% economic growth this
year.
Valerie N. Pama, president and
chief executive ofcer, said major-
ity of their clientele come from the
rich Chinese-Filipino sector, but
a growing number come from the
middle class.
We are seeing more transac-
tions from this sector. Based on
an online survey we conducted
in 2012, at least 20% of our sales
came from this sector already.
It was denitely a bit higher last
year, she said in a press brieng
yesterday.
Sun Life also aims to penetrate
the young demographic, such as
the BPO sector, through a new
program that will be launched
before the end of the year. Ms.
Pama declined to elaborate, say-
ing the program is still awaiting
approval.
The company is also optimistic
about further boosting sales in Vi-
sayas and Mindanao this year.
Of our P35 billion gross sales
last year, P1 billion came from
VisMin. But VisMin showed the
highest growth, Ms. Pama said.
Gross sales from VisMin area
last year more than doubled to
P1 billion from P488 million in
2012. Assets under management
in VisMin also grew 28% to P2.35
billion. The companys total as-
sets under management last year
reached P41.13 billion.
The companys optimism mir-
rors the rosy projections for the
Philippine economy, one of the
fastest growing economies in
Asia. The Philippines grew 7.2%
last year, surpassing government
targets despite the calamities that
struck in the last quarter.
Michael Oliver G. Manuel, man-
aging director for Sun Life Asia
Investment, said the weaker peso
is actually good for the economy.
A weak peso boosts the BPO and
export sectors and bodes well for
overseas Filipino workers (OFW)
and their families, thus supporting
consumption, which accounts for
three-fourths of the economy, he
said.
Consumption is supported by
low interest rates, benign infla-
tion, OFW remittances and the
Sun Life eyes middle
class, younger clients
Sun Life, S2/ 3
Bank, S2/ 3
S2/1-8
NEWS
UPDATED
DAILY
www.bworldonline.com
Thursday, March 6, 2014
VOL XXVII ISSUE 154 ISSN0116-3930
STOCK MARKET WORLD SPORTS ARTS & LEISURE
Thursday, March 6, 2014 2/S2
PSEi snaps back on Putin stance
PHILIPPINE SHARES recovered
yesterday after a two-day rout, driv-
ing the main index to a fresh four-
month high, according to analysts
who said investor fears over the
Ukraine conict have eased.
The bellwether Philippine Stock
Exchange index (PSEi) climbed
61.54 points or 0.96% to close at
6,456.14, its highest finish since
the 6,477 recorded on Nov. 6 last
year. The PSEi rallied to as high
as 6,482.15 and as low as 6,399.67
during Wednesdays session.
The broader all-shares index
similarly gained 30.46 points or
0.79% to 3,881.48.
Local equities tracked the bull-
ish sentiment of US and regional
markets as concerns on the tension
in Ukraine have eased, James S.
Lago, research head at PCCI Securi-
ties Brokers Corp., said.
Abbygayle M. Estrella, analyst
at AB Capital Securities, Inc. ,
meanwhile, said: We joined the
regional bandwagon, as easing
tensions in Ukraine and optimism
on corporate earnings results
provided a relief rally in the local
market.
The local bourse joined stron-
ger Asian markets that tracked
Wall Streets gains overnight, as
worries of a confrontation be-
tween Russia and Ukraine abated
after Russia decided to call back
troops engaged in exercises near
the peninsula.
Japans Nikkei 225 index climbed
176.15 points or 1.20% to 14,897.63;
while South Koreas KOSPI index
added 17.13 points or 0.88% to
1,971.24. Hong Kongs Hang Seng
tumbled 77.85 points or 0.34% to
22,579.78; while Chinas Shanghai
composite index lost 18.39 points or
0.89% to 2,053.08.
Inflations settling within fore-
cast in February also gave the mar-
ket an added lift, analysts said.
February inflation slowed to
4.1% from the 4.2% recorded a
month ago, falling within the cen-
tral banks 3.8%-4.6% estimate for
the month.
The good inflation data also
lifted investors confidence, said
Lexter L. Azurin, research head at
Unicapital Securities, Inc.
Justino B. Calaycay, Jr., analyst
at Accord Capital Securities Corp.,
meanwhile, attributed the main
indexs rise to renewed condence
that China, the worlds second larg-
est economy, would keep its growth
momentum. China shares though
fell amid concern that country is
facing its first onshore corporate
bond default.
We saw buyers emerging across
the Asian region, which propelled
the benchmark to what could be
its biggest one-day gain in over a
week, he said.
In a report to the National
Peoples Congress at the start
of its annual session, Premier Li
Keqiang said China is aiming for an
economic growth of 7.5% this year,
while maintaining its 3.5% ination
target.
At home, a total of 1.74 billion
shares worth 12.95 billion were
traded from the previous days
3.03 billion shares worth 11.25
billion.
Foreign buying totaled 1.34 bil-
lion, slightly lower than Tuesdays
1.50 billion.
Two shares rose for every stock
that fell, while 33 issues did not
move.
All counters, but industrial
stocks, ended the day in the green.
Industrials fell 10.22 points or
0.10% to 9,765.06.
Property added 42.60 points or
1.75% to 2,481.97; services gained
21.30 points or 1.12% to 1,923.18;
financials rose 12.17 points or
0.79% to 1,561.12; holding firms
climbed 45.37 points or 0.78%
to 5,876.70; while mining and oil
edged up 35.02 points or 0.24% to
14,520.30.
The market is poised to test the
6,500 resistance on the back of op-
timism in conglomerate earnings,
Unicapitals Mr. Azurin said, placing
support at 6,400. Judy Danni-
belle T. Chua Co
Banks
104 56.3 23,230 Asia United Bank Corp. 199,020 71.8 72 71.7 71.8 71.8 (4,623,289)
97 68.2 302,047 Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. 5,820,320 84.1 85 84 84.35 83.95 (22,165,213)
109.89 80.95 358,530 Bank of the Phil. Islands 1,182,150 90.5 91.25 90.05 91.25 90 (8,924,829)
70.45 52 83,090 China Banking Corp. 77,150 58.1 59.3 58.1 58.2 58.5 531,023
37.6 23.25 31,934 East West Banking Corp. 251,700 28.45 28.6 28.2 28.3 28.45 5,005,070
106.54 70 223,427 MetroBank and Trust Co. 2,870,920 81.1 81.8 81 81.4 80.3 14,154,774
38.5 21.6 8,068 Philippine Business Bank 10,000 23.3 23.8 23.3 23.5 23.3 -
114.44 65.93 108,425 Philippine National Bank 936,360 87 87.2 85.4 86.8 86 (1,279,174)
74 41 57,979 Rizal Commercial Banking 68,700 45.2 45.7 45.2 45.45 45 2,093,810
168.5 88.08 69,748 Security Bank Corp. 784,140 115.7 117 115.6 115.7 115.7 (10,862,229)
155 116.4 82,166 Union Bank of the Phils. 3,290 129 129 128.1 128.1 128 (115,562)

Other Financial Institutions
3.6 2.65 890 AG Finance, Inc. 241,000 3.3 3.58 3.3 3.4 3.26 -
2.54 0.92 3,042 Bankard, Inc. 321,000 2.06 2.06 1.99 1.99 2.04 -
2.4 1.85 4,628 BDO Leasing & Fin., Inc. 398,000 2.12 2.14 2.07 2.14 2.16 -
21 15.88 8,764 COL Finl. Group, Inc. 18,800 18.5 18.7 18.5 18.7 18.5 (37,200)
11.15 5.66 416 Filipino Fund, Inc. 12,700 8.1 8.29 8 8.29 8.04 16,060
2.98 2.5 1,699 I-Remit, Inc. 39,000 2.6 2.77 2.6 2.77 2.57 (10,960)
32.4 16.2 26,176 Macay Hldgs., Inc. 60,000 24.5 24.55 24 24.5 24.5 -
0.63 0.178 189 Medco Holdings 6,280,000 0.25 0.3 0.25 0.27 0.26 (44,500)
830 518 1,377,235 Manulife Financial Corp. 200 746 746 745 745 744 -
314 299 22,028 The Phil. Stock Exchange, Inc. 39,680 307 307 300 300.4 301.6 (2,567,792)
1,450 1,020 834,305 Sun Life Financial, Inc. 60 1,355 1,369 1,355 1,369 1,350 -
2.92 2.28 5,417 Vantage Equities, Inc. 110,000 2.58 2.6 2.58 2.58 2.55 -

Electricity, Energy, Power & Water
1.45 1.22 8,305 Alsons Cons. Res., Inc. 207,000 1.34 1.34 1.32 1.32 1.31 -
41.4 31 304,646 Aboitiz Power Corp. 6,725,600 41.15 41.6 41.15 41.4 41 157,447,335
6.65 4.37 104,063 Energy Devt. (EDC) Corp. 10,076,200 5.66 5.66 5.55 5.55 5.59 (30,687,742)
25 12.4 61,896 First Gen Corp. 7,926,500 18.38 18.46 18.14 18.4 18.14 (59,471,508)
109.7 49 39,506 First Phil. Hldgs. Corp. 601,290 71.3 72.5 70.6 71.5 70.5 (1,307,579)
9.3 4.2 1,119 Calapan Ventures, Inc. 3,100 6.75 6.9 6.75 6.9 6.95 690
395 247 321,449 Manila Electric Co. 551,520 283 286.4 282.4 285.2 282 (10,490,978)
41 21.35 47,944 Manila Water Co. 2,059,700 24 24 23.8 23.8 24 (8,060,800)
16.2 11.7 125,626 Petron Corp. 4,709,700 13.6 13.6 13.38 13.4 13.6 1,223,154
8.4 4.35 7,315 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 202,200 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.12 5.18 -
2.91 1.4 10,068 Trans-Asia Oil and Energy 7,735,000 2.12 2.15 2.07 2.07 2.08 184,690
12 8.9 10,746 Vivant Corp. 600 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.5 -

Food, Beverage & Tobacco
7.42 3.92 2,100 Agrinurture, Inc. 6,000 3.92 3.92 3.92 3.92 3.99 -
16.48 12.52 466 Central Azucarera De Tarlac 1,200 16.48 16.48 16.48 16.48 16.48 -
33.45 21.75 29,822 Del Monte Pacifc Ltd. 724,100 22.6 23.5 22.6 23 22.5 (16,145,455)
8.51 6.03 29,000 D and L Industries, Inc. 14,200,200 7.96 8.2 7.96 8.12 7.95 52,177,767
21 8.6 176,100 Emperador, Inc. 40,752,900 11.6 11.8 11.6 11.74 11.58 (41,092,954)
2.14 0.93 1,305 Alliance Select Foods Intl., Inc. 485,000 1.2 1.22 1.18 1.22 1.2 60,000
27.2 12.5 5,474 Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. 1,500 18.5 19.5 18.5 19.5 19.2 -
185 115 171,025 Jollibee Foods Corp. 320,210 168 168 162.5 162.5 167 (11,875,868)
33 7.88 6,027 Pancake House, Inc. 54,400 32 32.5 23 23.25 32 -
307.6 214.8 37,067 San Miguel Pure Foods Co., Inc. 4,080 228.4 229 222.4 222.4 222.2 400,620
6.6 4 18,543 Pepsi-Cola Products Phils. 3,807,200 5.37 5.37 5.02 5.02 5.36 (1,499,523)
7.72 2.26 6,206 Roxas and Co., Inc. 26,000 3.3 3.4 3.23 3.23 3.21 -
6 4.17 17,730 RFM Corp. 4,513,300 5.7 5.7 5.56 5.61 5.55 329,226
7.3 2.28 5,476 Roxas Hldgs., Inc. 66,700 5.93 6.09 5.92 6.02 5.91 44,105
0.15 0.118 221 Swift Foods, Inc. 950,000 0.124 0.124 0.122 0.122 0.132 -
140 96 296,684 Universal Robina Corp. 3,671,850 138 138.1 135.9 136 134.5 80,037,728
1.03 0.55 1,783 Vitarich Corp. 114,000 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 -
4.02 1.44 8,310 Victorias Milling Co. 4,687,000 3.67 3.78 3.51 3.51 3.71 (327,380)

Construction, Infrastructure & Allied Services
23 9.9 2,776 Asiabest Group Intl., Inc. 46,300 13 14.8 12.8 13.88 12.9 -
1.6 0.95 7,564 SE Asia Cement Hldgs. 1,000 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.05 -
7.6 0.86 1,305 Da Vinci Capital Hldgs., Inc. 8,707,000 1.19 1.25 1.16 1.16 1.17 (74,150)
15.72 9.2 11,400 EEI Corp. 4,954,600 10.94 11.2 10.94 11 10.94 19,033,726
15.68 12 86,071 Holcim Philippines, Inc. 16,300 13.3 13.36 13.3 13.34 13.3 109,432
12.18 8.55 52,356 Lafarge Republic, Inc. 3,797,300 9.04 9.04 8.97 8.99 9 (223,537)
18.38 10.1 20,123 Megawide Const. Corp. 19,600 12.48 12.48 12.2 12.2 12.2 -
15.98 11.5 3,630 Phinma Corp. 15,500 13 14 13 13.98 13 -
3.05 1.59 1,673 TKC Steel Corp. 3,000 1.78 1.78 1.75 1.78 1.75 -
2.22 1.3 870 Vulcan Industrial Corp. 151,000 1.48 1.48 1.43 1.45 1.48 -

Chemicals
3.5 2.62 4,557 Chemrez Technologies, Inc. 716,000 3.46 3.5 3.46 3.5 3.49 (139,600)
2.15 1.01 5,346 Euro-Med Lab. Phil., Inc. 15,000 1.26 1.32 1.26 1.3 1.5 -
4.85 1.96 712 LMG Chemicals Corp. 4,000 3.68 3.68 3.68 3.68 3.68 -

Electrical Components & Equipment
23.17 12 3,979 Cirtek Hldgs. Phils. Corp. 4,700 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.2 -
27.4 22.5 7,080 Concepcion Indl. Corp. 5,500 27 27.1 27 27.1 27.1 -
0.02 0.01 2,050 Greenenergy Hldgs., Inc. 160,100,000 0.011 0.012 0.01 0.011 0.01 (928,400)
4.19 1.88 4,608 Integ. Micro-Electronics 16,000 2.79 2.82 2.79 2.82 2.79 -

Other Industrials
2.03 1.7 1,104 Splash Corp. 212,000 1.74 1.74 1.7 1.7 1.71 -

Holding Firms
4.9 1.5 1,480 Asia Amalgamated Hldgs. 577,000 1.73 1.99 1.71 1.85 1.76 -
0.52 0.46 1,577 AbaCore Capital Holdings,Inc. 680,000 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.49 -
688 500 344,069 Ayala Corp. 558,890 565.5 577 565.5 574 562 24,056,755
60.2 40 332,417 Aboitiz Equity Ventures 2,068,070 59.45 60.3 59.45 60.2 59.5 (15,515,426)
30 19.42 297,825 Alliance Global Group, Inc. 8,852,400 29.3 29.7 29 29 29 (942,875)
7.29 6.3 16,750 A. Soriano Corp. 116,700 6.65 6.75 6.65 6.7 6.7 -
2.4 1.65 2,074 Anglo-Phil. Hldgs. Corp. 82,000 1.78 1.78 1.78 1.78 1.8 -
1.61 0.92 585 ATN Hldgs., Inc. A 116,000 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.58 1.59 -
1.69 0.94 127 ATN Hldgs., Inc. B 136,000 1.51 1.61 1.51 1.59 1.58 -
18.6 7.48 73,682 Cosco Capital, Inc. 22,261,900 9.76 10 9.75 9.95 9.66 120,571,433
69.4 45.1 180,308 DMCI Hldgs., Inc. 2,274,640 69 69 67.65 67.9 67.65 (46,653,721)
6.9 4 48,265 Filinvest Devt. Corp. 53,500 5.16 5.18 5.16 5.18 5.12 -
3.9 2.85 907 F&J Prince Hldgs. Corp.A 80,000 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.19 -
3.99 2.34 711 F&J Prince Hldgs. Corp.B 1,000 3.76 3.76 3.76 3.76 2.56 -
884.5 690 136,390 GT Capital Hldgs., Inc. 116,680 797 797 781.5 782.5 784 (22,593,550)
9.1 5.7 3,954 House of Investments, Inc. 117,000 6.54 6.54 6.42 6.42 6.5 (682,700)
49.1 35 344,544 JG Summit Hldgs., Inc. 8,791,300 49.6 49.6 48.95 49.1 49 15,991,075
8.1 3.76 1,267 Jolliville Hldgs. Corp. 1,000 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 3.76 -
0.95 0.6 548 Lodestar Invest. Hldg. Corp. A 5,034,000 0.71 0.76 0.71 0.74 0.71 -
7.54 3.95 20,418 Lopez Hldgs. Corp. 3,488,000 4.46 4.49 4.45 4.45 4.45 (11,765,210)
27 13.32 186,561 LT Group,Inc. 7,590,800 17.62 17.62 17.18 17.24 17.32 (54,023,788)
0.73 0.5 756 Mabuhay Hldgs. Corp. 10,000 0.63 0.63 0.63 0.63 0.63 -
6.75 5 3,450 Minerales Industrias Corp. 48,000 5 5 5 5 5 -
6.29 4.1 118,159 Metro Pac. Inv. Corp. 85,746,000 4.56 4.6 4.54 4.54 4.51 (119,648,540)
2.25 1.23 635 Prime Media Hldgs., Inc. 124,000 1.64 1.64 1.63 1.64 1.64 -
2.8 2.35 1,657 Republic Glass Hldg. Corp. 13,000 2.43 2.43 2.43 2.43 2.43 -
2.22 1.04 2,259 Solid Group, Inc. 516,000 1.23 1.24 1.23 1.24 1.22 (172,200)
0.39 0.26 2,616 Sinophil Corp. 32,000,000 0.31 0.33 0.3 0.33 0.31 -
962.4 634 574,510 SM Investments Corp. 815,160 725 725.5 720 721.5 715 -
125 54.5 135,367 San Miguel Corp. 229,040 57 57.5 56.7 56.95 56.7 (61,608,340)
2.2 1.5 293 Seafront Resources Corp. 2,000 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.75 1,436,758
98.95 58.2 19,374 Top Frontier Inves. Hldgs., Inc. 110,210 59.3 59.3 58.15 58.2 59.5 (3,474,036)
0.28 0.136 381 Unioil Res. And Hldgs. Co. 550,000 0.25 0.25 0.24 0.24 0.25 -
0.28 0.169 615 Wellex Industries, Inc. 630,000 0.2 0.2 0.181 0.188 0.194 -
0.5 0.29 890 Zeus Hldgs., Inc. 250,000 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 -

Property
0.222 0.187 1,053 Arthaland Corp. 110,000 0.198 0.198 0.198 0.198 0.21 (9,900)
35.7 23.75 423,781 Ayala Land, Inc. 24,863,200 29.55 30 29.55 29.9 29.25 117,215,330
2.09 1.25 2,373 Araneta Properties, Inc. 422,000 1.51 1.54 1.51 1.52 1.5 242,520
7.01 4.46 58,182 Belle Corp. 8,348,200 5.52 5.62 5.51 5.51 5.45 1,135,296
2.4 1 1,889 A Brown Co., Inc. 1,162,000 1.1 1.17 1.09 1.09 1.19 -
1.16 0.98 3,538 Cityland Devt. Corp. 41,000 1.06 1.08 1.04 1.04 1.06 19,760
0.093 0.065 1,183 Crown Equities, Inc. 1,530,000 0.088 0.088 0.087 0.087 0.088 -
6.69 4.5 9,831 Cebu Hldgs., Inc. 1,058,100 5.13 5.3 5.12 5.12 5.13 (4,349,676)
2.28 1.14 14,818 Century Prop. Group, Inc. 5,970,000 1.55 1.56 1.53 1.53 1.51 (1,193,500)
5.6 4 2,934 Cebu Prop. Vent. & Devt. Corp. A 20,000 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 4.6 -
5.5 4.6 1,881 Cebu Prop. Vent. & Devt. Corp. B 0 5 5 5 5 5 -
0.79 0.47 3,403 Cyber Bay Corp. 150,000 0.49 0.5 0.49 0.5 0.49 -
1.18 0.91 13,502 Empire East Land, Inc. 278,000 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.91 -
0.37 0.177 1,575 Ever Gotesco Res. 6,440,000 0.33 0.33 0.32 0.32 0.33 678,200
2.22 1.18 34,920 Filinvest Land, Inc. 13,460,000 1.43 1.47 1.43 1.44 1.42 (1,744,510)
2.67 1.23 16,479 Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. 1,520,000 1.5 1.52 1.49 1.5 1.49 14,900
1.66 1.1 1,340 IRC Properties, Inc. 4,006,000 1.35 1.4 1.34 1.34 1.34 -
2.15 1.53 1,850 City and Land Developers 18,000 1.88 1.9 1.88 1.9 1.88 -
4.25 2.9 135,918 Megaworld Corp. 91,562,000 4.23 4.27 4.23 4.25 4.21 51,917,870
0.124 0.071 843 MRC Allied Industries, Inc. 2,750,000 0.097 0.099 0.096 0.099 0.097 -
0.61 0.33 571 Phil. Estates Corp. 130,000 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.4 0.41 -
4.1 2.52 842 Primex Corp. 104,000 2.56 2.75 2.55 2.75 2.95 -
26.35 18.86 85,970 Robinsons Land Corp. 4,692,100 21 21.15 20.9 21 21 64,396,560
0.62 0.4 2,806 Philippine Realty & Hldgs. 2,949,000 0.57 0.58 0.56 0.57 0.56 -
3.48 1.46 10,276 Rockwell Land Corp. 1,302,000 1.63 1.7 1.63 1.68 1.63 -
1.25 0.58 6,802 Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. 2,472,000 0.63 0.65 0.63 0.63 0.62 -
21.3 14.1 414,505 SM Prime Hldgs., Inc. 92,889,800 14.76 15.12 14.76 14.9 14.54 688,743,480
4.07 3.38 29,828 Starmalls, Inc. 11,000 3.55 3.55 3.54 3.54 3.38 -
1.95 0.57 2,318 Suntrust Home Dev., Inc. 1,167,000 1 1.03 0.98 1.03 1 -
7.05 4.4 43,889 Vista Land & Lifescapes 13,744,900 5.24 5.24 5.1 5.14 5.17 (15,656,201)

Media
46 27.4 25,668 ABS-CBN Corp. 72,300 29.2 30.2 29.2 30 29 -
9.98 7.2 28,199 GMA Network, Inc. 1,235,700 8.5 8.5 8.36 8.39 8.5 -
0.88 0.58 1,840 Manila Bulletin Pub. Corp. 1,119,000 0.58 0.58 0.57 0.58 0.58 -

Telecommunications
1,810 1,170 224,728 Globe Telecom, Inc. 191,855 1,685 1,700 1,680 1,695 1,685 221,045,590
2.5 1.39 2,070 Liberty Telecoms Hldgs. 13,000 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 -
3,250 2,582 596,314 Phil. Long Dis. Tel. Co. 382,625 2,748 2,792 2,732 2,760 2,720 103,327,070

Information Technology
7.1 3.72 1,025 DFNN, Inc. 156,400 7.07 7.07 6.75 6.83 6.86 (27,160)
2.55 1.69 3,258 ISM Comm. Corp. 97,000 1.7 1.7 1.68 1.7 1.69 50,400
0.66 0.35 850 Millenium Global Hldgs., Inc. 50,000 0.42 0.42 0.4 0.4 0.38 -
6.02 1.68 382 NextStage, Inc. 66,000 2.3 2.3 2.25 2.28 2.3 -
2.59 1.9 461 Transpacifc Broadband 1,000 2.08 2.08 2.08 2.08 2.06 -
15.8 6.75 9,670 Philweb Corp. 562,700 7 7.01 6.6 6.75 7 (901,244)

Transportation Services
2.74 1.5 6,482 2Go Group, Inc. 19,000 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.74 -
83.85 46.1 29,661 Cebu Air, Inc. 162,700 48.85 49.1 48.85 48.95 48.9 (1,979,980)
106.6 77.8 203,393 Intl. Cont. Terml. Serv., Inc. 2,998,280 99.95 101.3 99.25 100 99.1 125,158,981
4.19 1.9 2,578 Macroasia Corp. 347,000 2.07 2.11 2.06 2.09 2.06 (352,600)
6.96 5.15 135,359 PAL Hldgs., Inc. 1,800 5.45 5.45 5.45 5.45 5.41 -
1.91 1.21 1,120 Harbor Star Shipping Serv., Inc. 19,114,000 1.85 1.9 1.85 1.85 1.82 1,822,400

Hotel & Leisure
0.2 0.112 1,788 Boulevard Hldgs., Inc. 250,740,000 0.14 0.15 0.14 0.149 0.14 159,560
3 1.79 1,133 Discovery WorldCorp. 130,000 1.82 1.83 1.81 1.81 1.82 -
0.42 0.33 850 Waterfront Philippines, Inc. 60,000 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34 (20,400)

Education
1,300 1,103 15,310 Far Eastern University 10 1,115 1,115 1,115 1,115 1,105 -
12.5 10.5 9,362 iPeople, Inc. 2,200 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 12 -
1.05 0.59 6,735 STI Educ. Systems Hldgs., Inc. 1,150,000 0.69 0.69 0.67 0.68 0.69 -

Casinos & Gaming
28.5 18 22,141 Berjaya Phils., Inc. 1,300 19 25.5 19 25.5 26.5 -
16.02 8.3 96,791 Bloomberry Resorts Corp. 10,893,400 8.95 9.3 8.9 9.14 8.82 (7,534,910)
0.026 0.012 420 IP E-Game Vent., Inc. 14,700,000 0.014 0.014 0.013 0.014 0.014 -
17.32 14 4,164 Pacifc Online Sys. Corp. 2,008,000 14.92 15 14.92 15 14.92 -
8.3 5.85 9,959 Leisure and Resorts Corp. 671,800 8.24 8.3 8.24 8.3 8.27 4,174,922
16.5 7.6 55,948 Melco Crown Resorts Corp. 867,200 12.96 12.96 12.64 12.64 12.7 (5,321,394)
2.45 1.63 1,736 Manila Jockey Club, Inc. 217,000 1.8 1.83 1.7 1.83 1.68 -
11.34 9.2 151,256 Travellers Intl. Hotel Grp., Inc. 15,630,400 9.23 9.74 9.22 9.6 9.22 (71,554,508)

Retail
5.14 2.98 1,159 Calata Corp. 59,000 3.21 3.28 3.2 3.22 3.21 -
46.7 33.75 124,903 Puregold Price Club, Inc 2,073,900 46 46.6 45 45.15 45.55 68,022,605
68.8 50 95,288 Robinsons Retail Hldgs., Inc. 3,631,040 67 69.95 67 68.8 67 114,303,351
120.87 78.26 44,468 Philippine Seven Corp. 54,300 98.1 98.5 97 97 102.5 (2,441,405)

Other Services
0.92 0.6 4,653 APC Group, Inc. 2,715,000 0.62 0.63 0.61 0.62 0.62 (1,251,780)
0.47 0.35 514 Now Corp. 10,000 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.4 -
2.95 1.85 2,894 Paxys, Inc. 26,000 2.44 2.52 2.44 2.52 2.46 -

Mining
4.5 1.72 6,260 Apex Mining Co., Inc. A 349,000 3.3 3.48 3.3 3.35 3.32 -
0.0055 0.0029 970 Abra Mng. and Indl. Corp. 364,000,000 0.0052 0.0054 0.0052 0.0053 0.0053 -
22.9 11.68 33,176 Atlas Cons. Mng. & Devt. 1,326,800 15.88 16 15.88 15.98 15.78 (435,228)
18.8 6.25 489 Benguet Corp. B 30,000 7.36 7.36 7.32 7.32 7.32 (220,000)
1.07 0.78 3,240 Coal Asia Holdings, Inc. 1,040,000 0.82 0.82 0.81 0.81 0.81 40,500
1.24 0.5 1,749 Century Peak Metals Hldgs. 1,509,000 0.62 0.62 0.61 0.62 0.62 (918,840)
12.3 4.95 515 Dizon Copper Silver Mines 95,300 6.5 6.68 6.45 6.51 6.48 -
0.55 0.4 1,453 GEOGRACE Res. Phils., Inc. 640,000 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 -
1.15 0.3 10,304 Lepanto Cons. Mng. A 13,550,000 0.4 0.4 0.39 0.4 0.4 -
1.25 0.29 7,044 Lepanto Cons. Mng. B 2,450,000 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 4,100
0.062 0.012 2,184 Manila Mining Corp. A 29,700,000 0.018 0.018 0.018 0.018 0.018 -
0.064 0.014 1,616 Manila Mining Corp. B 7,000,000 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 -
4.01 1.56 6,739 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 13,768,000 3.69 3.73 3.69 3.7 3.68 1,413,100
3.85 1.49 2,721 Nihao Min. Resources 2,672,000 2.99 3.09 2.94 2.98 2.94 205,930
22.56 14.28 45,885 Nickel Asia Corp. 944,600 18.08 18.36 18.08 18.2 18.06 3,878,870
3.47 1.16 2,338 Oriental Peninsula Res. 913,000 1.63 1.63 1.61 1.61 1.62 (42,110)
19.16 7.85 44,976 Philex Mining Corp. 1,680,900 9.11 9.19 9.11 9.11 9.1 117,519
375 229 132,383 Semirara Mining Corp. 195,080 368.2 373 368.2 371.6 368.2 38,614,350
0.017 0.0087 2,874 United Paragon Mng. Co. 2,100,000 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 -

Oil
0.29 0.225 624 Basic Energy Corp. 70,000 0.247 0.247 0.247 0.247 0.245 -
0.026 0.017 2,040 Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. A 2,500,000 0.017 0.017 0.017 0.017 0.018 -
0.045 0.034 6,907 The Philodrill Corp. 14,200,000 0.037 0.037 0.036 0.036 0.037 69,800
7.04 5.4 1,539 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 45,800 5.41 5.62 5.41 5.62 5.62 -
31.4 7.6 13,617 Philex Petroleum Corp. 244,000 8.1 8.17 8 8.01 8 113,717

Preferred
48.1 26.4 9,818 ABS-CBN Hldgs. Corp. 248,400 29.45 30.2 29.45 30.2 29 402,025
533 514.5 10,540 Ayala Corp. Pref. B 2,730 527 528 527 527 527 -
118 101.3 11,800 First Gen Corp. Pref. F 16,000 118 118 118 118 116 -
117 108 15,034 First Gen Corp. Pref. G 14,800 108 112.4 108 112.4 112 -
10.2 7.1 7,134 GMA Hldgs., Inc. 160,400 8.34 8.36 8.32 8.32 8.48 (494,504)
1.14 1 1,700 Leisure and Resorts World-Pref. 332,000 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.02 9,270
1,080 1,020 15,600 San Miguel Purefoods Pref. 2,825 1,040 1,040 1,040 1,040 1,042 -
115 107 10,700 Petron Corp. Perpetual Pref. 22,750 107.1 107.1 106 107 107.3 -
80.4 74.7 54,797 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-A Pref. 293,250 75.7 76 75.7 76 75.7 1,998,550
82 75 7,139 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-B Pref. 110 78.95 78.95 78.95 78.95 77.95 -
84 75.5 20,496 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-C Pref. 12,780 80.4 80.4 80.2 80.2 80.4 -

Warrants, Phil. Deposit Receipts, Etc.
1.05 0.08 75 Leisure & Resorts World-Wrnts. 4,318,000 1.01 1.02 0.9 0.91 0.99 10,830
3.25 1.21 772 Megaworld Corp.- Warrants1 2,357,000 3.09 3.27 3.09 3.25 3.04 -
3.25 2.2 70 Megaworld Corp.- Warrants2 342,000 3.15 3.25 3.15 3.25 3.01 -

Exchange Traded Funds
102.4 94.5 809 First Metro Phil. Equity ETF 3,410 101.5 102.5 101.5 102.4 101.5 -
AUB
BDO
BPI
CHIB
EW
MBT
PBB
PNB
RCB
SECB
UBP
AGF
BKD
BLFI
COL
FFI
I
MACAY
MED
MFC
PSE
SLF
V
ACR
AP
EDC
FGEN
FPH
H2O
MER
MWC
PCOR
PNX
TA
VVT
ANI
CAT
DMPL
DNL
EMP
FOOD
GSMI
JFC
PCKH
PF
PIP
RCI
RFM
ROX
SFI
URC
VITA
VMC
ABG
CMT
DAVIN
EEI
HLCM
LRI
MWIDE
PHN
T
VUL
COAT
EURO
LMG
CHIPS
CIC
GREEN
IMI
SPH
AAA
ABA
AC
AEV
AGI
ANS
APO
ATN
ATNB
COSCO
DMC
FDC
FJP
FJPB
GTCAP
HI
JGS
JOH
LIHC
LPZ
LTG
MHC
MIC
MPI
PRIM
REG
SGI
SINO
SM
SMC
SPM
TFHI
UNI
WIN
ZHI
ALCO
ALI
ARA
BEL
BRN
CDC
PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
Provided by: Technistock
52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stocks Volume Open High Low Close Prev Net Foreign
High Low (Pmil) Close Trade(peso)
Buy(sell)
Stock
Code
52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stocks Volume Open High Low Close Prev Net Foreign
High Low (Pmil) Close Trade(peso)
Buy(sell)
Stock
Code
CEI
CHI
CPG
CPV
CPVB
CYBR
ELI
EVER
FLI
GERI
IRC
LAND
MEG
MRC
PHES
PRMX
RLC
RLT
ROCK
SLI
SMPH
STR
SUN
VLL
ABS
GMA7
MB
GLO
LIB
TEL
DFNN
ISM
MG
NXT
TBGI
WEB
2GO
CEB
ICT
MAC
PAL
TUGS
BHI
DWC
WPI
FEU
IPO
STI
BCOR
BLOOM
EG
LOTO
LR
MCP
MJC
RWM
CAL
PGOLD
RRHI
SEVN
APC
NOW
PAX
APX
AR
AT
BCB
COAL
CPM
DIZ
GEO
LC
LCB
MA
MAB
MARC
NI
NIKL
ORE
PX
SCC
UPM
BSC
OPM
OV
PERC
PXP
ABSP
ACPB
FGENF
FGENG
GMAP
LRP
PFP
PPREF
SMC2A
SMC2B
SMC2C
LRW
MEGW1
MEGW2
FMETF
3500
3590
3680
3770
3860
3950
4040
1370
1430
1490
1550
1610
1670
8200
8600
9000
9400
9800
10200
11300
12050
12800
13550
14300
15050

5700
5900
6100
6300
6500
6700
2100
2220
2340
2460
2580
2700
FINANCIAL: 1,561.12 ALL SHARES: 3,881.48 PSEI: 6,456.14
O N D J F M
INDUSTRIAL: 9,765.06 PROPERTY: 2,481.97 MINING & OIL: 14,520.30
PHILIPPINE INDEX CHARTS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
O N D J F M O N D J F M
O N D J F M O N D J F M O N D J F M
61.54 30.46
42.60
Stocks Volume Stocks Value
Abra Mining and Industrial Corp. 364,000,000 SM Prime Holdings, Inc. 1,383,139,000
Boulevard Holdings, Inc. 250,740,000 Phil. Long Distance Telephone Co. 1,060,438,000
Greenergy Holdings, Inc. 160,100,000 Ayala Land, Inc. 743,886,000
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. 92,889,800 SM Investments Corp. 588,353,000
Megaworld Corp. 91,562,000 Universal Robina Corp. 502,729,000
Metro Pacifc Investments Corp. 85,746,000 Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. 491,159,000
Emperador, Inc. 40,752,900 Emperador, Inc. 476,281,000
Sinophil Corp. 32,000,000 JG Summit Holdings, Inc. 431,564,000
Manila Mining Corp. A 29,700,000 Metro Pacifc Investments Corp. 390,516,000
Ayala Land, Inc. 24,863,200 Megaworld Corp. 388,913,000
Stocks Volume Close Net %
F and J Prince Holdings Corp. B 1,000 3.76 1.200 46.87%
Jolliville Holdings Corp. 1,000 4.50 0.740 19.68%
Cebu Property Venture and Devt. Corp.A 20,000 5.20 0.600 13.04%
Greenergy Holdings, Inc. 160,100,000 0.011 0.001 10.00%
United Paragon Mining Corp. 2,100,000 0.011 0.001 10.00%
Manila Jockey Club, Inc. 217,000 1.83 0.150 8.93%
Megaworld Corp.-Warrants 2 342,000 3.25 0.240 7.97%
I-Remit, Inc. 39,000 2.77 0.200 7.78%
Asiabest Group International, Inc. 46,300 13.88 0.980 7.60%
Phinma Corp. 15,500 13.98 0.980 7.54%


Stocks Volume Close Net %
Pancake House, Inc. 54,400 23.25 -8.750 -27.34%
Euro-Med Laboratories Phil., Inc. 15,000 1.30 -0.200 -13.33%
A Brown Co., Inc. 1,162,000 1.09 -0.100 -8.40%
Leisure and Resorts World Corp.-Warrants 4,318,000 0.91 -0.080 -8.08%
Swift Foods, Inc. 950,000 0.122 -0.010 -7.58%
Primex Corp. 104,000 2.75 -0.200 -6.78%
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc. 3,807,200 5.02 -0.340 -6.34%
Arthaland Corp. 110,000 0.198 -0.012 -5.71%
Oriental Pet. and Minerals Corp. A 2,500,000 0.017 -0.001 -5.56%
Victorias Milling Co., Inc. 4,687,000 3.51 -0.200 -5.39%
LAGGARDS
TOP 10 IN VOLUME TOP 10 IN VALUE
LEADERS
OPEN HIGH LOW

Financial 1,557.21 1,563.26 1,553.40
Industrial 9,892.05 9,892.05 9,765.06 ODD LOTS VOLUME : 1,499,211
Holding Firms 5,895.93 5,914.34 5,876.70 ODD LOTS VALUE : 164,324.22
Property 2,450.51 2,494.44 2,450.51
Services 1,920.18 1,942.07 1,911.39
Mining & Oil 14,485.28 14,594.57 14,485.28 TOTAL FOREIGN BUYING : 8,241,769,061.69
All Shares 3,852.71 3,893.06 3,852.71 TOTAL FOREIGN SELLING: 6,905,939,138.75
PSEi 6,399.67 6,482.15 6,399.67
PSE TURNOVER AND AVERAGES
Volume Value (P) Close Pt. Change

Financial 19,724,804 1,052,700,888.17 Financial 1,561.12 up 12.17
Industrial 294,028,650 2,153,424,667.11 Industrial 9,765.06 down (10.22)
Holding Firms 189,052,776 2,873,507,319.16 Holding Firms 5,876.70 up 45.37
Property 285,895,670 2,794,233,974.92 Property 2,481.97 up 42.60
Services 490,141,574 3,873,776,609.59 Services 1,923.18 up 21.30
Mining & Oil 462,480,902 202,598,326.87 Mining & Oil 14,520.30 up 35.02
SME 0 0.00 All Shares 3,881.48 up 30.46
ETF 3,410 348,757.00 PSEi 6,456.14 up 61.54

Grand Total 1,741,327,786 12,950,590,542.82 Advances 116 Declines 64 Unchanged 33
COMPANY STOCK CASH EX-DATE RECORD PAYABLE
DIVIDEND UPDATE
SCHEDULE OF MEETING
Date Company Time & Place
March
7 Phoenix Petroleum Phils., Inc. (Annual) 2:00 p.m. Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City
18 Phil. Trust Co. (Annual) 4:00 p.m. Philtrust Bank Bldg., United
Nations Ave., Manila
NOTE: These schedules are subject to change without any further notice.
PLDT 105,988 $61.71 $60.55 $61.65 $1.53
MANULIFE FINL. CORP. 1,817,459 $19.24 $19.02 $19.10 $0.17
SUN LIFE FINL. SERV. 654,291 $35.11 $34.80 $35.03 $0.36
Volume High Low Close Change MARCH 4, 2014
RP ABROAD
source: PSE
Shang Properties, Inc. P0.07000 04-Mar-14 07-Mar-14 14-Mar-14
Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. P0.06319 26-Feb-14 03-Mar-14 19-Mar-14
Philippine Savings Bank P0.75 28-Feb-14 05-Mar-14 20-Mar-14
10.22 35.02
12.17
MUTUAL FUNDS
NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D
per share Return % Return % Return % Return %
NOTE: * NAVPS as of the previous banking day; ** NAVPS as of two banking days ago;
*** Listed in the PSE
Source: PIFA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
STOCK FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. * 234.48 -2.91% 11.78% 25.58% 7.78%
ATRKE Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. * 1.2766 -7.53% n.a. n.a. 4.39%
ATRKE Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. * 3.8819 0.66% 15.06% 24.55% 5.73%
First Metro Save & Learn Equity Fund, Inc. * 5.0338 -6.2% 15.28% 28.27% 6.08%
Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. * 496.28 -12.01% 11.79% 24.18% 8.07%
Philequity Fund, Inc. * 31.2384 -4.2% 17.92% 30.79% 8.09%
Philequity PSE Index Fund, Inc. * 4.2413 -1.02% 18.81% 27.13% 7.43%
Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. * 710.84 -2.91% 19.32% 27.62% 8.53%
Sun Life Prosperity Phil. Equity Fund, Inc. * 3.6752 -8.57% 14.11% 23.21% 5.87%
United Fund, Inc.* 3.016 -15.38% 2.93% 9.47% 4.16%
Exchange Traded Fund
First Metro Phil. Equity ExchangeTraded Fund, Inc. * *** 102.2496 n.a. n.a. n.a. 8.51%
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
ATR KimEng Asia Plus Recovery Fund, Inc. ** $0.9348 -7.56% -5.03% n.a. -2.7%
BALANCED FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ATRKE Phil. Balanced Fund, Inc. * 2.1573 2.54% 12.98% 18.14% 2.62%
Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund, Inc.* 1.8693 -2.21% 12.04% n.a. 4.2%
First Metro Save & Learn Balanced Fund, Inc. * 2.7547 -6.55% 13.91% 25.96% 2.63%
NCM Mutual Funds of the Phils., Inc. * 1.744 -11.95% 8.82% n.a. 6.48%
One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.* 0.9696 n.a. n.a. n.a. 0.88%
Optima Balanced Fund, Inc. * 1.7789 1.45% 15.71% 17.42% 2.11%
PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. * 3.4999 -13.4% 8.39% 18.96% 7.36%
Philam Fund, Inc. * 15.7327 -12.53% 9.67% 19.92% 6.36%
Sun Life Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. * 3.4588 -7.77% 11.57% 15.66% 2.77%
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. * $0.03305 -3.14% 3.74% n.a. 1.94%
PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. * $0.9899 -6.6% -0.71% n.a. -1.13%
Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. * $3.2266 10.53% 6.21% 5.95% 0.89%
BOND FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. * 312 0.93% 5.83% 5.85% -0.59%
Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 2.3184 5.06% 6.7% 8.8% 0.76%
Ekklesia Mutual Fund, Inc. * 1.9671 2.18% 8.46% 6.8% -1.34%
First Metro Save & Learn Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 2.1381 11.97% 13.31% 11.1% -3.07%
Grepalife Bond Fund Corp. 1.3102 -6.2% 4.9% n.a. -4.5%
Philam Bond Fund, Inc. * 3.8497 -2.13% 7.96% 6.45% -2.39%
Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. * 3.3776 3.78% 10.04% 8.48% -1.82%
Prudentialife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 1.9161 4.77% 8.1% 5.18% -0.89%
Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. * 2.6269 -1.11% 6.64% 5.9% -1.66%
Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. * 1.4948 -3.31% 5.96% 5.9% -1.57%
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * $390.83 -1.55% 3.95% 4.5% 1.4%
ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. * 199.25 1.78% 3.82% 4.25% 1.34%
ATR KimEng Total Return Bond Fund, Inc. ** $1.039 -2.86% 1.51% n.a. 1.46%
Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. $1.6292 -1.16% 5.93% 7.77% 1.91%
Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. P1.552 -7.49% 3.87% 5.95% -4.82%
MAA Privilege Dollar Fixed Income Fund, Inc. $1.21419 -14.95% -1.57% -0.19% -5.77%
MAA Privilege Euro Fixed Income Fund, Inc. 0.02705 n.a. n.a. n.a. -1.89%
PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc. * $1.192 -0.16% 0.28% 3.11% 2.44%
Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * $1.952 -4.37% 2.83% 5.83% 2.73%
Philequity Dollar Income Fund, Inc. * $0.0529088 -1.31% 4.65% 6.48% 1.94%
Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. * $2.6682 -7.3% 2.18% 4.78% 1.11%
MONEY MARKET FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. * 111.98 1.5% 2.75% n.a. 0.16%
First Metro Save & Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. * 1.0736 0.26% 1.39% 1.41% -0.01%
Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. * 1.1514 0.21% 1.3% 1.51% -0.07%
Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. * 1.1259 -0.35% 0.09% 0.41% 0.04%
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S2/3 Banking&Finance
Sun Life,
S2/ 1
BPO sector, Mr. Manuel said in
the same brieng.
Government has scal room to
boost growth because it has mon-
ey to do so, Mr. Manuel added,
citing the low budget decit, low
debt level and availability of funds
at low rates.
Consumption, investments
and government spending are all
in good shape. The Philippines can
come in with better numbers and
will be much stronger, he said.
Meanwhile, Sun Life also report-
eda38%increaseinits VisMinman-
power to 456 agents and revealed
planstohire700morethisyear.
SLAMCI manages seven funds
known collectively as the Sun Life
Prosperity Funds, which include
the bond fund, balanced fund,
equity fund, money market fund,
government securities, dollar ad-
vantage and dollar abundance.
Marites S. Villamor
SHANGHAI A Chinese solar
company is threatening not to pay
interest on a corporate bond, set-
ting of alarms in the nancial sys-
tem, but analysts said Wednesday
that a default could improve trans-
parency.
Shanghai-based Chaori Solar
Energy Science & Technology
Co. said it was unable to make
interest payments of 89.8 mil-
lion yuan ($14.7 million) due
Friday on a bond issued in 2012,
according to a statement issued
late Tuesday through the Shen-
zhen stock exchange where it is
listed.
Some analysts have described
it as Chinas first default for an
onshore corporate bond.
The China Business News said
it was the countrys rst substan-
tive default since a steel company,
Angang, had previously delayed
interest payments and so-called
collective bonds issued by
groups of small enterprises had
also missed payments.
But analysts said a Chaori de-
fault would help build a healthier
market in the long term.
Its a good thing, as a normal
economy needs those defaults to
better price bonds and other debt
products, said Lu Ting, an econo-
mist for Bank of America Merrill
Lynch.
Defaults of some debt prod-
ucts are denitely not on a simi-
lar scale to a collapse of a major
nancial institution, he said in a
research note. Corporate bonds
and incoming trust loan defaults
wont lead to credit crunch.
The news came after worries
earlier this year over financial
products issued by Chinas rough-
ly 65 trusts, which have drawn
comparisons to American junk
bonds of the 1980s.
In one case a $160 million in-
vestment product structured by
Jilin Province Trust and backed by
a coal rm failed to repay capital
and interest five times by mid-
February.
Separately, a $500 million
investment product structured
by China Credit Trust avoided
default after an unknown party
made good on principal payments
to hundreds of investors, though
they have not received pledged
interest.
That product was also backed
by a loan to a coal rm, and sold by
Chinas largest bank ICBC.
Zhang Gang, an analyst with
Central China Securities, told AFP
on Chaori: In the short term there
will be some impact, but as to the
whole nancial system, the emer-
gence of some defaulting compa-
nies will help everyone raise their
risk expectations.
Chaori has been suspended
from trading on Shenzhens small-
and medium- enterprise board
since February 19. It last traded at
2.59 yuan. AFP
Bank,
S2/ 1
branching restriction in key cit-
ies in Metro Manila by July this
year, as it implements in full its
bank branching liberalization
policy that began three years
ago.
Incorporated on Feb. 12, 1997,
PBB is a thrift bank that targets
small- and medium-scale busi-
nesses.
PBB listed its shares on the
Philippine Stock Exchange in Feb-
ruary last year, the rst company
to debut on the local bourse in
2013.
PBB shares closed at P23.50
apiece yesterday, 0.86% or 20
centavos higher than their P23.30
close last Tuesday. Ann Ro-
zainne R. Gregorio
China bond default feared
But analysts rule out credit crunch
HONG KONG Standard Char-
tered bank said Wednesday net
prot fell more than 16% in 2013
and warned of a difcult rst half for
2014 following signicant challeng-
es for its South Korean operations.
The London-based lender,
which makes 90% of its prots in
Asia, the Middle East and Africa,
said net profit was $3.99 billion
last year, down 16.65% from $4.79
billion in 2012.
Standard Chartereds South
Korean retail bank sufered a $1.0
billion write-down in its value,
and produced lower revenue with
higher bad loans during the year,
culminating in a $162 million op-
erating loss.
Overall operating income fell
1% to $18.67 billion in 2013, com-
pared to the previous year, while
annual prot before tax was down
11% to $6.06 billion.
The results follow a decade in
which the bank posted consecu-
tive full-year prots.
2013 was a challenging year,
for the industry and for Standard
Chartered, said its chairman
John Peace in a statement.
The bank said bad loans across
its operations had increased by
35% year-on-year to $1.62 billion.
While our clients have re-
mained very active, the overall
outcome for the group has not
been as good as we would have
liked, Peace said.
WEAK FIRST HALF FOR 2014
The banks chief executive Peter
Sands warned of a weak perfor-
mance for the rst half of 2014
following weak growth in the past
quarter.
Given the weakness of our per-
formance in the fourth quarter of
2013, we anticipate that the first
half of 2014 may prove challeng-
ing, Sands said in the statement.
We do not expect to deliver
double-digit income growth over
the next couple of years, given
various pressures, not least Ko-
rea, he said.
However, we havent aban-
doned double-digit growth as a
longer-term aspiration.
Richard Hunter, head of equi-
ties at Hargreaves Lansdown
Stockbrokers, said the group was
bucking the trend of the wider
market, with an outlook that
ofsets a disappointing year by its
own standards. AFP
TOKYO Japan will this week set
out rules on how to handle bitcoins,
the frst sign that the government is
taking action on regulating the virtual
currency after the collapse last week
of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the
worlds dominant bitcoin exchange.
The cabinet will decide on Friday
how to treat bitcoins under existing
laws, said people familiar with the
matter, adding that banks and securi-
ties frms will not be able to handle
bitcoin as part of their main busi-
ness, suggesting the crypto-currency
will be treated more as a commodity,
like gold.
Japan has struggled to defne
its approach to bitcoin since the
collapse of Mt. Gox, which fled for
bankruptcy protection in Tokyo on
Friday, saying it had lost bitcoins and
cash worth some half a billion dollars
due to hacker attacks on what it said
was its lax computer system security.
Bitcoin, a digital currency that
is traded on a peer-to-peer network
independent of central control, has
engendered a wave of creative crimi-
nality - from bitcoin theft by hacking
online platforms to potentially using
the crypto-currency in money launder-
ing, bribery and buying illicit products.
Its value has soared in the past year,
and the total worth of bitcoins minted
is now about $7 billion.
Flexcoin, a Canada-based bitcoin
bank, said on Tuesday it was closing
after it lost $600,000 worth of the
online currency - all the bitcoins it
stored - to hacker theft.
TAXING PROBLEM
Japanese authorities are looking at
possibly taxing bitcoin transactions,
but it remains unclear how they could
do this, given that one of the attrac-
tions of using bitcoin is that transac-
tions are largely anonymous.
We havent yet thoroughly
grasped the situation, but some kind
of regulation is needed from the per-
spective of consumer protection, and
we will also discuss (bitcoin) from the
perspective of imposing asset tax,
said Takuya Hirai, head of an IT panel
in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The panel heard on Wednesday
from consultant Deloitte about bitcoin
and from offcials of the Consumer
Affairs Agency, the Financial Services
Agency (FSA) the Finance Ministry,
central bank, Cabinet Offce and the
National Police Agency about the Mt.
Gox collapse, Hirai told reporters.
The FSA and the Finance Ministry
have said bitcoin is not a currency
and doesnt fall under their purview,
while the Bank of Japan has said it
was studying the bitcoin phenomenon
with interest. Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yoshihide Suga said the relevant
Japanese ministries will be in close
contact with each other on matters
relating to bitcoin. Reuters
Standard Chartered earnings
down 16% in 2013
Japan may stop banks
from handling bitcoins
Thursday, March 6, 2014 4/S2 World Sports
COURTSIDE
Anthony L. Cuaycong
UNDERSTANDABLY, LeBron
James was dead tired following
his 61-point effort the other day.
In fact, he was so bushed that, by
his own account, he spent much
of the next 24 hours sleeping.
His intent was clear; he needed
to get enough rest for a road out-
ing against the red-hot Rockets.
And, to his credit, he did manage
to hit the ground running; he had
19 markers on eight-of-11 shoot-
ing after two quarters, seem-
ingly still in the zone. I fought
through [fatigue] in the first
half, he said.
Unfortunately for James, the
next two periods saw him at his
worst. Second half, it just wasnt
there for me, he admitted. Got
out of rhythm. What an under-
statement. Even as Kevin Durant,
his closest rival for the Most Valu-
able Player award, wrapped up a
42-point masterpiece in front of
a cheering crowd some 700 kilo-
meters away, he proved unable to
stay motivated and rise above his
frailties. He was exhausted, and
he showed it after the break, going
one for four for three points in the
third quarter, sitting out the rst
half of the fourth, and then hitting
zero of three from the eld the rest
of the way.
Given that all and sundry
couldnt help but talk about the le-
gitimacy of James claim to great-
ness the night before, his listless
play was nothing short of shock-
ing. And had those around him not
seen fit to pick up the slack, the
Heat would have most certainly
absorbed an embarrassing set-
back. Instead, he was aforded the
opportunity to send the match to
overtime. That he failed to avail
of it served to underscore the ca-
pacity of the pendulum to swiftly
swing in the other direction.
There will be plenty of other
matches in the run-up to the play-
ofs, and James is sure to do better;
for all his stumbles yesterday, there
is overwhelming evidence to deem
them as part and parcel of a mere
outlier. Meanwhile, the Heat arent
worried; outside of his intent to
validate his status as the best of
the best of the National Basketball
Association in every instance he
suits up, there is the ultimate prize
to consider. And, in this regard, its
the nish that matters most.
DWIGHT HOWARD #12 of the Houston Rockets collides with LeBron James #6 of the
Miami Heat as they both attempt to gain possession of the ball at Toyota Center on
March 4 in Houston, Texas.
AFP
NEW YORK Highlights of Tues-
days National Basketball Associa-
tion games:
ROCKETS 106, HEAT 103
Dwight Howard scored 22 points,
grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds
and defended LeBron James on a
missed nal shot that gave Hous-
ton a 106-103 NBA victory Tues-
day over Miami.
One night after James scored
a career-high 61 points, the four-
time NBA Most Valuable Player
managed only 22 as the Rockets
snapped the defending NBA
champion Heats eight-game win
streak.
James Harden added 21 points
and a game-high 11 assists while
Patrick Beverley and Terrence
Jones scored 19 points each
and Chandler Parsons added 10
points and eight assists for the
Rockets.
Dwyane Wade and reserve
Michael Beasley each scored 24
points to lead Miami, which made
a 16-3 run in the fourth quarter to
equalize at 91-91.
Houston scored the next seven
points and were never caught
again, although Beasley sank a
three-pointer to pull Miami with-
in the nal margin.
The Rockets responded with
a long pass up the court to How-
ard that went out of bounds while
James leaped to challenge Howard
and was elbowed in the face by the
Houston star.
James grabbed his face as he
fell to the court but moments later,
after the Heat took over for a nal
shot and the ball went to James,
who was guarded by Howard be-
yond the three-point arc.
As time ticked down, James
launched a three-pointer over the
outstretched arm of Howard that
missed at the nal buzzer.
THUNDER 125, 76ERS 92
Kevin Durant scored 42 points
and guard Russell Westbrook col-
lected his eighth career triple-
double in leading the Oklahoma
City Thunder to a 125-92 win over
the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rockets snap Heat win streak
In his sixth game back from
injury, Westbrook racked up 13
points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists
in only 20 minutes and 17 seconds
of action.
It was the second fewest min-
utes any player has ever needed to
reach a triple-double, according to
the Elias Sports Bureau.
Westbrook needed so few
minutes because the 76ers (15-
46) offered little resistance on
their way to a 15
th
straight de-
feat.
Oklahoma City (46-15) held
a 16-point lead at halftime and
torched Philly in the third to put
the game away.
WARRIORS 98, PACERS 96
Klay Thompson hit an outside
jumper with 0.6 second left, giving
Golden State a victory over the In-
diana Pacers.
Indiana forward Paul Georges
three-point attempt as the buzzer
sounded hit the back rim and
bounced away.
Thompson led the Warriors
(37-24) with 25 points. Backcourt
teammate Stephen Curry added
19 points and forward David Lee
scored 11.
Forward David West led the Pac-
ers (46-14) with 27 points. George
had 26 points and a game-high 12
rebounds as Indianas lead on the
Eastern Conference stayed at two
games over Miami, who also lost.
CLIPPERS 104, SUNS 96
The Los Angeles Clippers won
their fth straight game and dis-
tanced themselves atop the Pacic
Division after downing the Phoe-
nix Suns.
With 20 games to play, Los An-
geles is 42-20, ve games ahead of
Golden State and six games ahead
of the fading Suns, losers of four of
their past six.
Matt Barnes led the Clippers
with 28 points while Blake Grifn,
had 22 points, six assists and ve
rebounds.
P.J. Tucker led Phoenix with 18
points and 10 rebounds.
SPURS 122, CAVALIERS 101
Danny Green scored 24 points to
lead the San Antonio Spurs to vic-
tory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Green, drafted by the Cavs in
2009 before they waived him in
2010, converted 7-of-12 shots from
the field and 3-of-7 from behind
the arc. The Spurs (44-16) also got
18 points and ve rebounds from
forward Kawhi Leonard and 16
points from both Patty Mills and
Boris Diaw.
Cleveland guard Dion Waiters,
playing in his rst game since Feb.
18 because of a hyperextended left
knee, had 24 points for the Cavs
(24-38).
PELICANS 132, LAKERS 125
Anthony Davis and guard Eric
Gordon scored 28 points apiece,
sparking the New Orleans Peli-
cans to victory over the Los Ange-
les Lakers.
The Pelicans (24-37) snapped
an eight-game losing streak as
Tyreke Evans added a strong out-
ing, scoring 24 points, handing out
11 assists and pulling down seven
rebounds.
Center Pau Gasol scored a sea-
son-high 29 points and grabbed
12 rebounds to lead Los Angeles
(21-40), who were attempting to
register their first three-game
winning streak since November.
Reuters/AFP
Thunder rout Sixers; Warriors edge Pacers
Exhausted
Rose more hopeful, Day looks for ideal Masters prep
TIGER WOODS plays a shot on the second hole during the fnal round of The Honda
Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa on March 2 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
AFP
DORAL, FLORIDA Tiger
Woodss status for this weeks
WGC-Cadillac Championship re-
mained uncertain on Tuesday as
the reigning champion continued
to receive treatment for a sore
back.
He canceled his pre-tourna-
ment news conference and prac-
tise round on Tuesday but is due to
meet with the media on Wednes-
day.
Woods, who has been paired
with Masters champion Adam
Scott and FedExCup winner Hen-
rik Stenson for the opening two
rounds at Doral, withdrew from
Sundays nal round of the Honda
Classic after 13 holes due to back
spasms.
Woods, whose career tally of
14 majors is second to Jack Nick-
laus, said in a statement after the
Honda Classic that he would de-
cide later if he could defend his
WGC-Cadillac title.
If Woods is unt to play it would
be a big setback ahead of the April
10-13 Masters at Augusta National,
the years rst major.
It would also leave world num-
ber two Scott a chance to bump
Woods from the top of the world
rankings with a win at Doral.
In 13 career starts at the WGC-
Cadillac championship, Woods has
seven wins, the last four on the
famed Blue Monster course which
underwent a massive redesign fol-
lowing last years win.
Id say its denitely a diferent
Doral, said Briton Justin Rose,
the 2012 WGC-Cadillac champion.
A lot has clearly been done since
last year.
Theres elements that you rec-
ognise but pretty much the shots,
the lines and obviously the reads
on the greens are all completely
new.
With the worlds top 50 players
all teeing it up at the Blue Monster
course there will be plenty to keep
the expected large galleries enter-
tained.
Another marquee grouping
will feature Northern Irishman
Rory McIlroy, who will be bidding
to rebound from a jarring playof
loss at the Honda Classic, 2009
Doral winner and fan favorite Phil
Mickelson and in-form Australian
Jason Day, winner of WGC-Accen-
ture Match Play Championship.
At these events like the ma-
jors and WGC events, if you play
well, you can move yourself up the
rankings pretty quick, said Day.
Winning the WGC Match Play,
moving from 11 to 4, it was one of
my goals to get into the top ve this
year and winning that event shot
me up to number four.
I dont want to stop there. I
just love playing in front of a lot of
people on the big stage. Reuters
Injured Tiger Woods
may not be ready for
Doral title defense
MIAMI Reigning US Open
champion Justin Rose said Tues-
day the tendinitis problem in his
right shoulder is easing while
Australian Jason Day hopes his
recent win in the WGC Match
Play will help him break his major
drought.
Both spoke ahead of Thursdays
start of the $9-million World Golf
Championships Cadillac Champi-
onship at Doral, a key tune-up one
month ahead of 2014s rst major
event, the Masters.
TENDON PROBLEM
Rose took last week of because of
tendon problems that he says are
not yet 100% sorted, but returns at
Doral looking to match his win of
two years ago.
The tendon just gets angry if
you do too much, Rose said.
Its very uneventful, but I just
sort of have to be very meticulous
and methodical in my warm-ups
and icing down and just do that for
probably the next month or so and
I imagine Ill be ne.
The 33-year-old Englishman
was joint 45
th
last month at Riv-
iera and lost in the second-round
at the WGC Match Play. He plans
to rest the two weeks before the
Masters but hinted that could
change if he feels he needs more
playing time.
I havent hit as many balls as
I would, but thats, I dont believe,
a contributing factor to how Im
going to perform, Rose said.
Rose will play alongside Ser-
gio Garcia and Zach Johnson
off the first tee one group in
front of Tiger Woods, reigning
Masters champion Adam Scott of
Australia and Swedens Henrik
Stenson.
DAY NEVER SO FOCUSED
Day, meanwhile, hopes for prime
preparation ahead of Augusta Na-
tional and next months Masters
as he seeks a major breakthrough
after four top-three major nishes
without a win.
The 26-year-old Aussie won
the Match Play two weeks ago and
sees it as a potential springboard
to even greater success.
I have never been so focused in
my life on competing and playing
well than I have been this year,
Day said. Ive put in a lot of work
on the golf course and Ive put in
a lot of work of the golf course on
my body, everything.
It has been very motivating for
me to go out and do the work and
really see and push myself how far
I can go.
MASTERS
Day led the Masters coming into
the nal holes last year but bogeys
at 16 and 17 ended his hopes and
helped Scott become the rst Aus-
sie to win the Masters.
The pressure did get a little bit
to me, Day said.
Being in that situation was an
amazing feeling going through my
body. The rush that I got through
my body after I birdied 15 was
amazing.
To have the lead there and
go, Oh, man, I only have three
holes left. If I can play well from
here, Ill be the first Australian
to win it, it was an amazing feel-
ing.
EXPECTATIONS
Day, who plays alongside Rory Mc-
Ilroy and reigning British Open
champion Phil Mickelson of the
10
th
tee, says 14-time major win-
ner Woods has raised expectations
to unfair levels with his 79 career
titles.
You guys have been blessed
by seeing Tiger Woods win for so
many years, Day said. People in
general think its easy to win. Its
hard. Its not easy to go out there
and just do it.
Im trying to strive to become
Tiger Woods, or in my own words
Jason Day, but theres just that
human error.
So many years weve watched
Tiger hit so many clutch shots
that people expect everyone on
the PGA Tour should be doing
that. And thats why we practice so
hard. AFP
INDIANAPOLIS US stock car
racer Kurt Busch was named
Tuesday to drive in the Indianap-
olis 500, giving him a chance to
become the fourth driver to com-
plete a unique one-day double.
The 2004 champion of the
National Association for Stock
Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) will
become the fifth driver for team
owner Michael Andretti at the his-
toric 2.5-mile (4km) Indy oval on
the afternoon of May 25.
Then the 35-year-old American
will take an airplane ride to Char-
lotte, North Carolina, and return
to his regular car in time for the
Coca-Cola 600 stock car race that
night, the green ag ying only six
hours after the Indy 500 begins.
This is really to challenge
myself within motorsports. It has
always been a dream of mine,
Busch said.
Perhaps I am a bit of an old-
school racer, a throwback. I en-
joyed the era of drivers racing dif-
ferent cars and testing themselves
in other series. It is tough to do
now for a variety of factors, but
when the opportunity is there, I
want to do it.
Tony Stewart, co-owner of
Buschs NASCAR ride, is the only
racer to complete all 1,100 miles
on the same day, finishing sixth
at Indy and third at Charlotte in
2001. The US driver also did the
double in 1999.
The others to do the double
were John Andretti in 1994 and
Robby Gordon in 2004.
I want to pop quiz everyone
whos done it to learn as much as I
can, Busch said.
He also wants to learn from In-
dyCar veteran racer Andretti and
his new teammates Canadas
James Hinchclife, Colombian Car-
los Munoz and Americans Marco
Andretti and 2012 series champion
Ryan Hunter-Reay. AFP
US racer to attempt Indy
500-NASCAR double
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S2/5 World Sports
BARCELONA MIDFIELDER Carles Puyol speaks during an announcement at the Sports Center FC Barcelona Joan Gamper in Sant
Joan Despi, near Barcelona, on March 4. Puyol, Barcelonas captain, will leave the Catalans at the end of the season, the 35-year-
old announced today.
LIONEL MESSI attends an offcial training of Argentina, two days ahead of a friendly
football match against Romania in Bucharest, March 3.
AFP
BARCELONA Barcelona cap-
tain Carles Puyol announced on
Tuesday that he will leave the club
at the end of the season after a
hugely successful 15-year career at
the Camp Nou.
The 35-year-old, who did
not reveal whether he will con-
tinue playing elsewhere, has been
plagued by injuries over the last
couple of seasons and has under-
gone three knee operations.
At the end of the season I will
leave FC Barcelona. The club are
aware of this and we are in agree-
ment, he said.
We will rescind the final two
years of my contract that were still
to run.
Puyol signed a new deal with
the club in January last year, but
admitted in June that he would
not stay if injuries continued to
prevent him from playing a signi-
cant part on the eld.
And having featured just 10
times this season in all compe-
titions, he said it was time for a
new challenge in a less physically
demanding environment.
After the last two operations it
has been difcult for me to recover
the level I need to be able to con-
tinue here, more than I expected
and more than surgeons said. That
is why I have taken this decision.
NEXT DESTINATION STILL
UNKNOWN
Puyol didnt reveal where he
would go at the end of the current
campaign and insisted he will give
everything in what remains of the
season to help Barca succeed on
three fronts.
I am not leaving today, there
are still three months of the season
remaining and those that know me
know that I will not give up until
the end. I will continue ghting to
help the team improve and achieve
our objectives this season.
Puyol to leave Barcelona
I dont know what I will do on
June 30. What I do know is that I
will need time to rest. I have had
four years without a break due to
the injuries. That is what I will do
and then we will see.
The announcement brings to
an end an extraordinary career
in the Barcelona first team that
began in 1999. Puyol is the clubs
second most decorated player of
all-time, behind only teammate
Xavi Hernandez, having made 593
appearances.
After beginning his career as a
right-back, Puyol was converted
into one of the most successful
center-backs in world football
over the past decade as he won
three Champions Leagues and six
La Liga titles with his boyhood
club.
A number of Puyols teammates
past and present paid tribute to an
historic gure in Spanish football.
I will continue to enjoy being
at your side until the end of this
season. It has been an honor. I
wish you the best for what is to
come. There is no one like you cap-
tain, Andres Iniesta wrote on his
ofcial Facebook page.
Thanks captain for all you
have taught me. Good luck, Cesc
Fabregas said in a tweet alongside
a photo of the two of them just
after Fabregas re-signed for the
club in 2011.
Puyol was also a key part of the
Spanish sides that won the Euro-
pean Championship in 2008 and
the countrys first World Cup in
2010, memorably heading home
the goal that took his side to the
nal in South Africa with a 1-0 win
over Germany.
Carles is an example for ev-
eryone on and of the eld, Spain
coach Vicente del Bosque said.
In total he has represented
Spain 100 times with his last ap-
pearance coming in a 3-1 friendly
win over Uruguay in February
2013, making him one of only eight
players to have won a century of
caps with La Roja.
He is a natural leader, a person
that when you hear his name you
think of Barcelona, added former
Barca midfielder Thiago Alcan-
tara, now of Bayern Munich.
In the time I was there he was a
reference on and of the pitch. Ev-
eryone knows him and while Puyol
is in the world of football, he will be
an example for everyone. AFP
NEW YORK Tottenham striker
Jermain Defoe and retired Eng-
land star David Beckham are the
type of player Major League Soc-
cer needs to achieve its goals, MLS
commissioner Don Garber said
Tuesday.
Four days before the North
American league launches its 19
th
campaign with Defoe set to play
for Toronto, Garber stressed the
need to keep top American tal-
ent as well as sign big-name global
stars such as Beckham, who left
Real Madrid for the Los Angeles
Galaxy in 2007.
Achieving MLS goals of becom-
ing an elite-level league includes
getting big-time international
players like David and Thierry
Henry and now Jermain Defoe,
Garber said.
French star Henry joined the
New York Red Bulls in 2010 and
Defoe and US midelder Michael
Bradley left Europe for Toronto
this year.
Canadian rap music star Drake
was among those who encouraged
Defoe to move to Toronto while
Beckham has spoken with NBA
star LeBron James about being
a part-owner of his Miami MLS
expansion team and actress Eva
Longoria took to Twitter to help
San Antonios bid for an expansion
team.
Theres an incredible integra-
tion between sports and entertain-
ment, Garber said. It just adds a
little bit to our credibility and ties
into that millenial sports fan idea
of whats hip and whats hot.
Relegation and a champion
crowned from a season of matches
rather than a playof system, sta-
ples of most elite global leagues,
are not foremost in Garbers mind,
saying neither is in MLS plans.
Were going to need to cong-
ure our competition to where our
broadcast partners are going to get
the most viewers and that means
playofs, Garber said.
We have got to be in a situation
where our clubs are making money
so we can invest in this business.
Expansion teams are coming
to Orlando, New York and Miami
with Atlanta and Minnesota prime
contenders for future new clubs
and Garber looking at attendance
gures for pre-World Cup exhibi-
tions and European club visits to
US venues.
If you dont have support for
big games, youre not going to have
support for MLS teams, he said.
This figures to be a key year
with the World Cup nals in Brazil
to build upon, likely including sev-
eral Major League Soccer players
on the US squad, as well as new
US television deal talks and nego-
tiations with referees and players
unions.
Incomplete talks with ofcials
on a new deal raise the specter
of replacement referees for the
weekend start of the season.
We will be opening up this
weekend with referees and we are
absolutely in position to have a
contingency plan if those discus-
sions do not end positively, Gar-
ber said.
Nothing is going to stop us
from having a strong opening.
Garber said he was confident
the league and its players union
would work together to help the
sport grow in North America in
talks to replace a bargaining deal
that expires after this season.
All negotiations are tough.
Were mindful as are the players
this will be a challenging process,
Garber said. AFP
MLS boss: Defoe,
Beckham moves
key to future
AFP
BUENOS AIRES Lionel Messi
does not need a World Cup win-
ners medal to be considered
among soccers all-time greats,
fellow Argentine Diego Maradona
said on Tuesday.
Messi doesnt need to win the
World Cup to be the best player
in the world, Maradona, who
inspired Argentina to the title in
Mexico in 1986, told La Nacion.
[If he did] it would be great
for Argentina, the fans and Lio,
but [winning] a World Cup or not
wont take away any of his achieve-
ments up to now to be among the
greatest.
Twice World Cup winner Ar-
gentina faces Romania in a friend-
ly in Bucharest on Wednesday as it
begins to crank up its preparations
for this years nals in Brazil.
Former captain and coach
Maradona said everything ap-
peared in place for Messi to shine
although Argentinas task would
be tough with host Brazil, title-
holder Spain and Germany among
the sides to beat.
Maradona said Messi had had a
great World Cup in South Africa in
2010 despite not scoring any goals.
The Argentina team coached by
Maradona lost, 4-0, to Germany in
the quarternals.
Messi had an exceptional
World Cup with me... and no one
said so. [Was it] because he didnt
score? He turned all the goalkeep-
ers into stars, he said.
Maradona said he could not for-
get Messis sobs when Argentina
was eliminated.
I approached him and told him
hed have many World Cups to get
revenge. I said it with all my heart.
While the rest were thinking about
our return [home] he was there,
head bowed, crying.
Argentina is in Group F with
Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria at the
nals starting on June 12.
Theres Spain, Germany and
theres Brazil with a tremendous de-
fense. You think of Brazils defense
andsixorsevennamescometomind,
you think of their attack and theres
onlyNeymar,Maradonasaid.
For Lio it will be a test of charac-
ter, to bring out all that crying he has
in his heart. Brazil can be his great
revenge, he added, who will com-
mentate on the tournament for a
Venezuelan TV program. Reuters
Messi does not need
World Cup for greatness,
says Maradona
UNITED NATIONS A group of
United Nations sanctions experts
has been investigating former
basketball star Dennis Rodman
because of gifts he brought to
North Korea during his visits to
the reclusive state, according to
an excerpt from the groups latest
report.
While the UN Panel of Experts,
an independent body that moni-
tors compliance with the United
Nations North Korea sanctions
regime, did not explicitly accuse
Rodman of violating the UN ban
on luxury goods, it suggested his
actions may have represented a
breach of international restric-
tions on Pyongyang.
The panel also investigated
allegations that Dennis Rodman
and his party may have taken lux-
ury items as gifts when he visited
Pyongyang in September and De-
cember 2013 and January 2014,
the experts unpublished report
says.
On his January trip, Rodman
was accompanied by a contingent
of other former National Basket-
ball Association players for an
exhibition game in Pyongyang.
He sang Happy Birthday, to Kim
Jong-un at a celebration marking
what was believed to be his 31
st
birthday.
Media reports ... corroborated
by the panel indicate that among
items taken by Dennis Rodman
and his party during their visits
were sporting goods from vari-
ous countries, ve bottles of vodka
(United States) taken by Rodman
and one bottle of whiskey (Ire-
land), the report says.
In an excerpt seen by Reuters,
the report also refers to other gifts,
including two whiskey glasses and
one whiskey decanter (Ireland),
and a Mulberry handbag (United
Kingdom) taken by Paddy Power, a
company based in Ireland.
The former basketball stars
trips had previously been nanced
by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power,
although it has since withdrawn
its backing. Rodman used his rst
visit in 2013 to promote his own
vodka brand.
The panel considers that this
(the Rodman case) illustrates the
importance of informing individu-
als and companies of their obliga-
tions under the (Security Council
sanctions) resolutions, the report
said.
It is continuing in its inqui-
ries.
There is a UN ban on the export
of luxury goods to North Korea
under sanctions imposed by the
Security Council in response to
Pyongyang s 2006 and 2009
nuclear tests and several missile
launches.
The athletes most recent visit
to Pyongyang became controver-
sial after an agitated, drunken
Rodman gave an interview to
CNN from North Korea in which
he suggested that Kenneth Bae,
an American missionary im-
prisoned in North Korea, was
responsible for his own impris-
onment.
Rodman checked himself into
a substance abuse rehabilitation
center shortly after returning
from North Korea in January.
Last year, the Panel of Experts
said North Korea continued to vio-
late the UN ban on luxury goods,
which is intended to punish the
countrys ruling elite. The panel
cited suspected violations of the
ban involving alcohol, tobacco,
electronic items, automobiles and
cosmetics.
The Panel of Experts has also
looked at the case of a North Ko-
rean cargo ship, the Chong Chon
Gang, detained near the Panama
Canal for holding Cuban weap-
ons. The ship was seized in July
2013 for smuggling Soviet-era
arms, including two MiG-21 air-
craft, hidden under 10,000 tons
of sugar.
Several Security Council dip-
lomats told Reuters on condition
of anonymity that in the Chong
Chon Gang case, the experts deter-
mined that North Korea had used
a network of rms based abroad,
including in China its standard
method of trying to avoid detec-
tion while violating the UN arms
embargo. Reuters
UN sanctions experts
probe Rodmans
North Korean trips
LONDON Sports psychologist
Steve Peters has been called on to
give England renewed hope at the
soccer World Cup having worked
wonders for Britains cyclists at
the Olympics and helped Liver-
pools Premier League title chal-
lenge.
He has got a fantastic record,
England manager Roy Hodgson
said on Tuesday ahead of his sides
friendly international against
Denmark at Wembley on Wednes-
day.
We are happy we have got the
man we wanted.
England has performed dis-
mally at the last two major tour-
naments having been outclassed
by Germany in the round of 16
at the South Africa World Cup in
2010 and losing to Italy on penal-
England hires psychologist in bid to shine in Brazil
ties in the quarterfinals of Euro
2012.
Penalty shoot-outs have been
the Achilles heel of a succession of
England teams, although Hodgson
said Peters had not been signed up
purely to remedy that problem.
I understand that the head-
lines will be England cant score a
penalty so Steve Peters will make
sure we make ve out of ve that
will be very tough because Steve
quite rightly said he wont be able
to help us to do that, Hodgson told
a news conference.
What he might be able to help
us do, and especially the players,
is to make sure that they are men-
tally better prepared for any chal-
lenge in front of them.
Penalty shoot-outs may be
one, but there are also a lot of min-
utes of football to be played, so we
are looking for his help in this area
as well.
Psychologists are widely used
in sporting environments and
Liverpool and England captain
Steven Gerrard said having Peters
on board was great news for Eng-
lands chances of success in Brazil
this year.
Steve Peters is not the type
that is in your face forcing you to
see him, you know, Gerrard, who
has worked with Peters at club
level, told the news conference.
He leaves it totally to yourself
but for me I am always trying to
take any advantage I can get it.
If Steve can get get them that
one or two percent extra to what
I already got, I am going to see
him.
Peters, who has written a book
called the Chimp Paradox, began
working with British Cycling in
2001 and his methods helped spark
a medal rush culminating in a gold-
en London 2012 Games and back-
to-back Tour de France wins for
Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.
One of his techniques is known
as chimp and gremlin manage-
ment.
There are two aspects of your
brain that work independently
of each other with a third backup
system that both utilize, Peters,
who worked with Team Sky, has
said previously.
One is quite emotional and
irrational; the other is logical, ca-
pable of making good judgments. I
call the emotional thinking system
the Chimp. Reuters
Thursday, March 6, 2014 6/S2
EDITOR ALICIA A. HERRERA
Sudoku Pacifc
Complete the grid so that every row, column
and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.
ACROSS
1 Stares in shock
6 Personnel
11 Wide awake
12 Mischievous sprite
13 Play place
14 Improve, in a way
15 Strong-arm
17 Spot
19 Slapstick weapon
20 Lobster trap
23 Batman butler
25 Polands Walesa
26 Tolstoy book
28 School
near Windsor
29 Revealing,
as a dress
30 M.B.A. or Ph.D.
31 Salon stuff
32 Memorable time
33 Female followings
35 Yellow gem
38 City on the Nile
41 In the know
42 Wrath
43 Flexes
44 Opera singer
DOWN
1 Empty talk
2 Elev.
3 Song by The Doors
4 Therefore
5 Increase,
as an incline
6 Word separator
7 Clock reading
8 Log chopper
9 Shark symbol
10 Nourished
16 Batman villain
17 Cut, in a way
18 Fill with joy
20 Sixties decal, often
21 Take place
22 Letter before iota
24 Conducted
25 Detective Archer
27 Odorous animal
31 Loving looks
33 Knotty
34 Lion feature
35 Folder feature
36 Need to pay
37 Mythical piper
39 Old roadster
40 Bruins legend
Crossword
By Thomas Joseph
In print and online
Tel : +632 535 9901
Fax : +632 535 9940
E-mail : editor@bworldonline.com
Web site : www.bworldonline.com
THE Ducasse Institute Philip-
pines at Enderun Colleges and
Ducasse Education in France
will hold their charity dinner on
March 18, with award-winning
chef and founder of Ducasse Edu-
cation, Alain Ducasse, as guest of
honor.
Guests will get to experience
a five-course dinner, led by chef
Jrme Lacressonnire, Ducasse
Education Chef Instructor and
Consultant, with the Ducasse In-
stitute Philippines team.
The charity event, entitled
Youth with a Future, will benet
the culinary center of Tuloy Foun-
dation, Inc.
After learning more about
the Tuloy Foundation from chef
Jrme Lacressonnire during my
last visit in Manila, I was very im-
pressed by its rich advocacy, which
is to reintegrate street children
into mainstream society through
a comprehensive program of car-
ing, healing and teaching, said
Mr. Ducasse on why he chose to
assist the Tuloy Foundation. I
do believe that learning to cook is
a very efective way for less fortu-
nate people to get a job and gain
access to a better life.
Youth with a Future was in-
spired by the Women with a Future
initiative led by Alain Ducasse En-
terprise wherein underprivileged
women from Paris are selected to
train for a year in a special culinary
program. The program includes
an apprenticeship in Mr. Ducasses
restaurants. Similarly, Youth with
a Future aims to support and
provide educational scholarships
to a group of culinary students of
Tuloy Foundation. Ducasse In-
stitute Philippines will enhance
the current curriculum of Tuloy
Foundation by patterning it after
the existing programs offered in
Enderuns campus.
Following an eight-month
program in the Tuloy Foundation
campus, the students will be ex-
posed to further training at the
Ducasse Institute Philippines for
three months. These beneciaries
will complete their program with
three- to five-month internship
placements. The scholars will
benet from the expertise of the
world-class chefs at Ducasse In-
stitute Philippines, as well as En-
derun Colleges strong internship
and career placement program.
Aside from the charity dinner,
the Ducasse Institute Philippines
at Enderun Colleges and Ducasse
Education in France organized a
charity raffle to help the benefi-
ciaries of Tuloy Foundation. Each
raffle ticket (P500) comes with
a chance to win Alain Ducasse
premium items and Enderun Ex-
tension gift demo and taste gift
certicates.
The Youth with a Future charity
dinner will be held on March 18 at
The Tent at Enderun Colleges. To
learn more about the Youth with
a Future project, visit http://www.
youthwithafuture.ph.
TULOY Foundation students at a cooking class
Dine for a cause
with Alain Ducasse
OSLO Increasing similarity
in diets worldwide is a threat to
health and food security with
many people forsaking traditional
crops such as cassava, sorghum
or millet, an international study
showed on Monday.
The report, which said it de-
tailed for the rst time the conver-
gence in crops towards a universal
diet in more than 150 nations since
the 1960s, showed rises for foods
including wheat, rice, soybeans
and sunower.
Among shifts, Pacic islanders
were eating fewer coconuts as a
source of fat and many people in
Southeast Asia were getting fewer
calories from rice, it said.
More people are consuming
more calories, protein and fat, and
they rely increasingly on a short-
list of major food crops ... along
with meat and dairy products,
Colin Khoury, leader of the study
at the International Center for
Tropical Agriculture in Colombia,
said in a statement.
Such diets have been linked to
risks of heart disease, cancers and
diabetes, the study said. Reliance
on a narrower group of food crops
also raises vulnerability to pests
and diseases that might gain be-
cause of climate change.
Overall, diets had become 36%
more similar in the past 50 years,
judged by factors such as shifts
in consumption of more than 50
crops for calories and protein, the
study said.
The convergence continues
with no indication of slowing,
according to the study in the US
journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences that included
the Global Crop Diversity Trust,
Wageningen University in the
Netherlands and the University of
British Columbia in Canada.
Soybean, sunflower oil and
palm oil had become part of the
standard global food supply
alongside crops such as wheat,
rice, maize and potato, the study
showed.
WEALTH
Rising wealth in emerging econo-
mies meant higher consumption
of products such as meat and sug-
ary drinks that are typical of West-
ern diets. We are seeing a rise in
obesity and heart disease... from
Nigeria to China, Khoury told Re-
uters.
Even so, many national diets
had become more varied.
As the human diet has become
less diverse at the global level over
the last 50 years, many countries,
particularly in Africa and Asia,
have actually widened their menu
of major staple crops, while chang-
ing to more globalized diets, a
statement said.
The scientists urged diversi-
fication, including of crops that
are falling from fashion, such as
rye, yams or cassava, to bolster
food security. They also called for
preservation of genetic variety in
all crops.
Genetic uniformity means
more vulnerability to pests and
disease, Khoury said. The Irish
potato famine in the late 1840s,
or southern corn leaf blight in the
United States in the early 1970s,
showed the risks of relying on a
single crop.
John Kearney, of the Dublin In-
stitute of Technology who was not
involved in the study, said trends
in diets could be reversed with
greater awareness of health risks.
Some people in Northern
Europe were adopting healthier
Mediterranean diets with more
fruit, vegetables and less meat,
he said, even though many in
Southern Europe were shifting
to more meat and less olive oil.
Reuters
WASHINGTON Packaged foods sold
in the United States would display
calorie counts more prominently and
include the amount of added sugar
under a proposal to signifcantly up-
date nutritional labels for the frst time
in 20 years as health offcials seek
to reduce obesity and combat related
diseases such as diabetes.
The Food and Drug Administration
said last week its proposal would also
ensure that the amount of calories
listed per serving refects the portions
that people typically eat. That change
may result in per-serving calorie
counts doubling for some foods such
as ice cream.
First lady Michelle Obama, who
has used her White House position to
launch the Lets Move campaign to
fght childhood obesity, announced the
proposal alongside the FDA.
The principle behind the update
is very simple, she said in a
statement. You as a parent and a
consumer should be able to walk into
your local grocery store, pick up an
item off the shelf, and be able to tell
whether its good for your family.
While the FDA already requires
companies to list the amount of sugar
in a product, the proposal requires
them to list the amount of added
sugar. Natural sugar is contained
in fruits. Added sugar includes corn
syrup and concentrated juice as well
as white and brown sugar.
The FDA, which has been discuss-
ing proposed label changes with the
industry for nearly a decade, estimat-
ed the cost to industry of updating the
labels will be about $2 billion while
the beneft to consumers is estimated
at between $20 to $30 billion.
The updates would take about
three years to take effect. After a 90-
day public comment period, the FDA
will draw up fnal rules. Once fnalized,
companies will have two years to
comply with the regulations.
When labeling was frst introduced,
companies fought it tooth and nail,
said Dr. David Kessler, who was
commissioner of the FDA when the
original labels were created. They
will certainly put up a fuss here, but
at the end of the day they will learn to
live with it and thrive and make better
products because of it.
The reaction from food makers was
subdued.
It is critical that any changes
are based on the most current and
reliable science, Pamela Bailey,
president and chief executive of the
Grocery Manufacturers Association,
said in a statement. Equally as im-
portant is ensuring that any changes
ultimately serve to inform, and not
confuse, consumers. The trade group
represents food, beverage and con-
sumer products companies.
General Mills, the maker of cereals
Cheerios and Wheaties and products
ranging from Haagen-Dazs ice cream
to Yoplait yogurt, said it has long been
an advocate of communicating clear
nutritional information on products.
Thats especially true of calories
and serving sizes, but also true of
important benefts that consumers
are seeking, like calcium and whole
grain, Kris Patton, a company spokes-
woman, said in an e-mail.
Calories will be displayed in larger
font, and consumers may get a wake-
up call with proposed changes to
serving sizes. By law, serving sizes
must refect the amount consumers
typically eat, yet serving sizes listed
on many packaged goods often differ
wildly from what people actually eat.
A serving of ice cream, for example, is
currently listed as half a cup. Yet few
people stop there.
Under the FDAs proposal, a
serving of ice cream would be a cup,
doubling the calorie count and poten-
tially giving consumers pause as they
survey their options. The number of
calories in a serving of Ben & Jerrys
Chubby Hubby ice cream, for example,
would be about 660 instead of the
current 330. By contrast, the serving
size for yogurt would fall from the cur-
rent level of eight ounces to the more
commonly consumed six ounces, the
FDA said. Reuters
Global diets get more similar
Lack of variety a threat to food security study
US proposes major update to food labels
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S2/7
Acacia
THIS SUMMER Acacia Hotel Manila is offering a
Junior Chefs class. Children ages six to 12 years
old are invited to join a 10-day cooking workshop
wherein they will learn the fundamentals of basic
cooking taught by the hotels culinary team. Class-
es will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 3
p.m. to 4:30 p.m. starting April 1. Included in the
curriculum are pizza making (April 1), Easter good-
ies (April 3), Japanese cuisine (April 8), Breakfast
Delights (April 10), Grill It! (April 22), Dimsum Yum
(April 24), Cocktails and Mocktails (April 29), Pasta
(May 1), and Mexican (May 8). The Junior Chef
Summer Class is P6,000 per student inclusive of
the 10-day class and apron and chefs hat. The last
day of enrollment will be on March 24. A 50% down
payment will be required to reserve a slot. For more
information, call the Marketing Department at 720-
2000 or e-mail enquiry@acaciahotelsmanila.com.
Casa Armas
SPANISH RESTAURANT Casa Armas is presenting
itself as a perfect choice for graduation parties.
For a memorable meal, there are cochinillo (roast
suckling pig) or Asado de Pollo (marinated chicken
oven-cooked in its own juices and special herbs)
complemented by Paella Valenciana, or Fideua
(paella pasta), Paella Negra (squid ink paella) or
Paella Marinera (seafood paella). And then there
is Cochin-ella, a fusion of cochinillo and paella. A
special treat awaits graduates who will dine-in: for
a minimum purchase of P5,000, the restaurant will
be giving a P500 gift certifcate that can be used
at the branches in Greenbelt 2 or SM The Podium.
For inquiries, visit www.casaarmas.com.ph.
Le Coeur de France
THE CLASSIC croissant gets to turn a new leaf with
Le Coeur de Frances new croissant dips. There
are three favors to choose form: Milk Chocoholic,
Creamy White Choco, and Mixed Berry Burst. Aside
from its best-selling croissants, Le Coeur de France
is known for its artisanal breads: paton or loaf
breads, bagels, baguettes and ciabattas, tarts,
feuillete (turnovers), bread rolls (cinnamon and en-
saymada), and even the trendy Croughnuts. There
are new outlets in Butterfy Garden, Newport City
and Commercenter in Filinvest, Alabang.
Discovery Suites
THE SERENDIPITY LOUNGE at Discovery Suites
offers a one-of-a-kind Happy Hour treat, for those
who wish to relax before the ride home. For P650+
per person, guests can enjoy unlimited local beer,
vodka tonic, gin tonic, vodka spirit and rhum coke.
The cocktail promo also includes endless trips to
the pica-pica buffet which serves German style
sausages, pork knuckles and chips. Located at the
hotels 22
nd
foor, the Happy Hour is available from
Monday to Friday. It features live jazz and pop mu-
sic by the G-Sustained Ensemble and guest singer
Justine Draper every Wednesday and Friday. Guests
can sit back and unwind while enjoying the night
sky view from the glass windows. For inquiries, call
719-6822 or 719-8888 or e-mail fbds@discovery.
com.ph.
RESTAURANT ROW
STUFFED BELL PEPPERS
IF THEREs anything the Italians
are known for, its got to be great
food, and a boutique hotel at The
Fort is proving that this fame is
deserved one small bite at a time.
On March 4, Seda Bonifacio
Global City unveiled its Italian
Aperi-Dinner at the Straight
Up bar, located on the hotels
roof deck. The buffet of Italian
antipasti and appetizers will be
officially available to the public
beginning March 14, and the
promo will end on March 30. The
spread was prepared by a guest
chef from Italy, Giovan Giusseppe
Ferrandino.
The spread did not come with
name cards, apparently just like
its done in Italy, so every bite was
a delightful surprise. Instead, Seda
BGCs chef, Anna Finato Galzigna-
to, stood by the spread and gamely
told guests what was what.
The spread included a canel-
lini bean soup, Gorgonzola-stufed
vol-au-vents, potato croquettes
stuffed with mozzarella, and a
spread of Italian hams. All in all,
there were about 40 dishes, in-
cluding slices of pizza, and a patty
of ham slipped inside a case of
mashed potatoes and topped with
two kinds of cheese.
Cheese had a strong presence
at the spread, from wheels of
cheese served with bread to sev-
eral dishes topped or stufed with
cheese. The main ingredients are
cheeses. When youre Italian, you
just put cheese everywhere! said
Ms. Galzignato.
The pizza was a special treat,
which Sedas Group General Man-
ager Andrea Mastellone described
in detail. Growing up in Naples,
where pizza was reputedly in-
vented, the man knows his pizza.
It has to cook for 45-90 seconds
[only], and to do that you need to
have an oven that has the tempera-
ture of 400 degrees on the bot-
tom the pizza [stays] soft, [moist]
and tender The time that you
have to allow the dough to grow
is 24 hours, he said.
The Pizza Margherita at Seda
had dough that was allowed to
grow for 12 hours, and was cooked
in a commercial oven at 400 de-
grees. Mr. Mastellone described
a genuine woodfired pizza oven
as impossible to build here, what
with it being made with rocks from
Mt. Vesuvius, and bricks that only
the natives know how to make. In
any case, cooked in a traditional
oven or not, the pizza proved to
be delicious, with a layer of cheese
that seemed one with the crust,
and gooey, stringy mozzarella
making itself a worthy challenge
to get off the plate and into the
mouth.
The Seda Hotels Aperi-Dinner
will be available from March 14-30
at the Straight Up roof deck bar. It
is priced at P425++. BPI cardhold-
ers will get a 20% discount. Mr.
Ferrandino will be ying to Seda
Abreeza in Davao, and Seda Cen-
trio in Cagayan de Oro to launch
the Italian food promotion at
those branches. JLG
A bite of Italy
THE ACACIA Junior Chefs 2013 at work learning how to make Caesar Salad from scratch.
EDITOR ALICIA A. HERRERA
WHEN WE think of American
food, we think of burgers, fries, and
hotdogs and popcorn. However,
chef Grant Gordon, a nominee for
the James Beard Award, and a 30
Under 30 Forbes magazine lister,
showed another side of American
cuisine, which highlighted the di-
verse culture of the US.
I showed a little bit of Italian,
a little bit of Spanish, a little bit of
really classic American. Its simi-
lar to the Philippines we are not
limited to one kind of cuisine; we
have everything, said Mr. Gor-
don at a luncheon and cooking
demonstration held at the Pisces
Culinary Studio at the Diamond
Hotel on Feb. 28. US Ambassador
Philip Goldberg, along with other
US Embassy ofcials, were guests
at the cooking demonstration.
Mr. Gordon became the ex-
ecutive chef of Tonys restaurant
in Houston, Texas at the age of
24, which earned him his spot
in Forbes magazines 30 Under
30 list. He was also nominated
as Rising Star Chef of the Year
by the James Beard Foundation,
which is hailed by some in the US
as the equivalent of the Academy
Awards for the food industry.
The chef arrived in the Philip-
pines on the last week of February
as part of a cultural diplomacy pro-
gram of the US Embassy. According
to Tina Malone, counselor for Pub-
lic Afairs for the US Embassy, Its
a program we run here in the Em-
bassy where we bring Americans
who are doing interesting things.
The particular program that [Grant
Gordon] is selected under is one
that looks for younger Americans
who have made their mark. They
are especially selected for their
achievements at a young age.
Mr. Goldberg said this about
food bridging the US and the Phil-
ippines: Theres a long tradition of
coming together over meals like we
did today, and thats a great thing.
COOKING ON THE SPOT
For lunch, Mr. Gordon served gn-
occhi with Pernod, shrimp, and
pancetta meatballs, which he pre-
pared on the spot. He also pre-
pared the soup safron shellsh
veloute on the spot. He served a
USDA Prime striploin, with a side
of whipped potatoes and creamed
spinach for the main course. As he
said that chocolate and bananas
were his favorite, the hotels pastry
chefs served a chocolate banana pie.
The gnocchi were served with
a light and creamy sauce, while
the gnocchi themselves were soft
but rm, and felt like biting into
pillows. The shrimp and pancetta
meatballs had a very strong fla-
vor, and tickled the tongue with
its salty flavor. The gnocchi was
paired with a Bernger Pinot Gri-
gio 2012, which seemed to bring
out a juiciness in the meatballs.
The soup had a tartness to it,
and was thick and creamy, but was
not heavy at all. The St. Francis
Chardonnay 2011 paired with the
soup had a powdery bouquet and a
bit of a spicy end note.
All of the wines served during
the luncheon were from California,
and most of the ingredients Mr.
Gordon used were from the US.
The main course, the steak, was
very juicy, while the gentle avors
of the whipped potatoes and the
creamed spinach only served to
make the beef stand out. It was
served with a Beringer Cabernet
Sauvignon 2011, which was very
spicy, in fact, almost savory, and
seemed perfect as well with a long-
cooked stew.
The chocolate banana pie was an
almost sinful treat, with very dark
andheavychocolateontopof acrust
layeredwithbananas. J. L. Garcia
Food diplomacy
Rising American chef demonstrates his skill for Pinoys
CHEF GRANT GORDON explains what he is cooking at a special lunch-demonstration at
the Diamond Hotel.
[America is] similar to the
Philippines we are not
limited to one kind of cuisine; we have
everything. chef Grant Gordon
Thursday, March 6, 2014
8/S2
CCIP 1
st
General Membership Meeting
THE CHAMBER of Cosmetics Industry of
the Philippines (CCIP) commences its year-
long 40
th
anniversary celebration with its rst
general membership meeting held last Feb. 20
at the Discovery Suites in Pasig City.
Attended by 87 member-companies, in-
dustry personalities who were also present
included Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) Director Nazarita T. Tacandong, Past
Director Vicente C. Soco, and Past Presidents
Carole E. Lopena, Ma. Jessica J. Plana and Dr.
Mike Turvill.
Dr. Turvill, CCIPs immediate past presi-
dent, welcomed members and guests by giving
a brief valedictory address about his achieve-
ments as president for the past two years. He
went on to introduce one of the Chambers
biggest supporters, President and CEO of
Lamoiyan Corporation and CCIP President in
2007 to 2008, Dr. Cecilio Kwok Pedro.
A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
To ofcially launch the Chambers 40th anni-
versary, the Chamber prepared a short video
with photos from various events since its in-
ception. FDAs current Director General, Dr.
Kenneth Hartigan-Go, also prepared a short
video, thanking the Chamber for its efforts
in helping the agency move forward with its
regulatory agenda. With the current reforms
being implemented, CCIP has closely worked
with the FDA in realizing these changes that
will further promote consumers welfare.
Start i ng wit h a core membership of
only 21 member-companies in 1974, the
Chamber was built upon the need to help
the industry address regulatory and tax
issues. Today, the Chamber spearheads the
industrys drive to innovate and compete
in the global market through technical,
regulatory and other informative bulletins
and programs as well as by helping the lo-
cal, regional and global cosmetics industry
develop regulatory standards.
After a sumptuous dinner buffet, the pro-
gram went on with the Chamber honoring
a valuable partner through the years, FDAs
Director Nazarita T. Tacandong. Director
Tacandong was presented with a plaque of
appreciation by CCIPs Past Presidents Ma.
Jessica Plana and Carole Lopena for her
dedicated service to the FDA and invaluable
support that she has given to the Cosmetics
Industry.
USHERING IN A NEW SET
OF BOARD MEMBERS
The Chambers 40
th
anniversary is likewise
marked with the induction of the new set of
CCIP ofcers. Director Tacandong joined
Past President Dr. Turvill as they facilitated
CCIP kicks off
40
th
anniversary
the Turnover Ceremony, Oath of Induction
and Pledge of Commitment.
POSITIVE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
After the induction of ofcers, ANZ Philip-
pines, represented by the nights guest speak-
er, Dr. Mike Foskolos, gave an optimistic and
highly informative Financial Outlook for
2014. According to Dr. Foskolos, markets will
be seeing growth this year now that the mar-
ket cycle is in the recovery stage. Earnings
growth of an average of 10% will be driven
by an increase in industrial production, low-
er risks and improved market conditions as
marked by GDP growth.
Over the past 40 years, CCIP has re-
mained both a driver and indicator of the
local cosmetics industry led by its members
that are market leaders in ingredients &
raw materials, packaging, manufacturing
and retail. According to Cosmetics Busi-
ness Magazine, the Philippine Cosmetics &
Toiletries market has seen strong economic
growth driven by a rise in disposable in-
comes propel ling strong demand among
both male and female consumers of the
worlds 12th biggest population.
GOING GLOBAL
After the positive economic forecast by Dr.
Foskolos, CCIP President Anna Marie T.
Anastacio gave members a glimpse of whats
in store for them this 2014. As part of the
Chambers celebration of this milestone year,
Ms. Anna presented the Chambers agree-
ment with UBM Asia to ofcially support the
rst Philippines International Beauty Show,
PHILBEAUTY Show to be held this June 18 to
20 at the SMX Convention Center.
INDUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS. (seated) EVP Emilio L. Virtudes, President Anna Marie T. Anastacio, and
EVP Silliman S. Sy; (frst row, from left) VP Raquel Padilla-Soon, VP Jenise Louise M. Gerodias, Audrey
Carig of Connell Brothers Company Pilipinas, Inc., Ana Patricia Silvestre from Beauty Lane Philippines,
Inc., Nicole Huang-Go of Bestpak Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc., Lia Rhea Ramos from Glamourbox,
Inc., Ma. Florence Villanueva of FMV Skin Basics Cosmetics Corporation, Sueda Saturno of Satchemie
Company, Marian Apawan of Wills International Sales, Inc., and VP Edwina Villarosa; (second row, from
left) VP William Gilbert DL Mateo, Secretary Atty. Errol Ismael Palaci, and Eugene Jose of A.M. Rieta
Chemicals Trading and Manufacturing
CCIP Past President Dr. Cecilio Kwok Pedro,
president and chief executive offcer of Lamoiyan
Corporation; CCIP Current President Anna Marie T.
Anastacio, chief delevopment offcer of VMV Hypoal-
lergenics; and CCIP Past President Ma. Jessica J.
Plana, president of Eurochemicals, Inc.
INDUCTION OF CCIP 2014 BOARD OF TRUSTEES. (seated) FDA Director III Nazarita T. Tacandong, CCIP
President Anna Marie T. Anastacio, CCIP Past President Carole E. Lopena, CCIP Past President Ma. Jessica
J. Plana; (frst row, from left) Former Board of Trustees Vicente C. Soco, VP Raquel Padilla-Soon, Treasurer
Carmencita D. Abelardo, VP Bernadette Grace L. LimVP Jenise Louse M. Gerodias, VP Edwina R. Villarosa, VP
Marietta Guanzon-Holmgren, and VP Anna Meloto-Wilk, VP Celia L. Ong
The startling human progress
that economists fail to see
The ancient Greek runner Phidippides con-
veyed with his dying breath the news that
the Persians had been defeated at Mara-
thon. We do not know how long it took him
to complete the course to Athens or even
whether his epic journey actually occurred.
We do know that the winner of the first
modern marathon, at the Olympic Games
of 1896, completed the course in just under
three hours.
But modern humans have become better
at performing even simple physical tasks
such as running. You would have been a
medallist in that first modern Olympiad
with a time of 12.6 seconds in the 100 me-
ters. But you would now have to achieve
less than 9.8 seconds to be a contender. The
longer the distance the greater the improve-
ment. Within the next few years, it is likely
that someone will complete a marathon
in less than two hours. This represents an
average speed gain of 0.4% a year over the
past century. The largest contributor to
improvement is improved technique sys-
tematic training, scientically planned diet
and careful pacing. The steady accumula-
tion of human knowledge makes us more
productive at more or less everything.
Wider markets also drive productivity
improvement. The successful competitors
in the early Olympics were mostly drawn
from western Europe and the US, and from a
limited social class even in these countries.
Todays runners are selected from a much
wider pool of potential candidates.
In athletics as in business, globalization
has facilitated more specialization, and
enabled the identication of particular lo-
cations of competitive advantage. Many
of todays fastest long-distance runners
come from east Africa, and most of the best
sprinters are people of west African descent
brought up in Jamaica or the US.
The evolution of sporting performance is a
metaphor for the sources of economic prog-
ress one that reveals several misunder-
standings about its nature. One is the idea
that economic growth puts increasing strain
on resources by demanding more stuf. The
principal source of economic growth is our
capacity to learn to do things better. Even
if we wanted to stop that process, we could
not.
Today we would not employ Phidippides
to take a message from Marathon to Athens,
even if he could break the world record of
two hours, three minutes and 23 seconds.
A copper wire could transmit the news in
about 0.14 milliseconds; Twitter could have
saved his life. The most important source of
economic advance comes not from doing the
same things better, but from achieving the
same objective in a completely diferent way.
Two decades ago, the Yale economist Bill
Nordhaus described how humans have al-
ways sought to illuminate darkness but have
done so in very diferent ways. People once
drew cave paintings by the light of a wood
re. Jane Austen wrote novels by candlelight
and William Gladstone walked streets lit by
gas. Thomas Edison switched on incandes-
cent electric bulbs. Today we use low-energy
ttings that emit almost no heat.
When we measure price and output we
look not at the price and output of light
but the price and output of items we use to
create light. These are very diferent things.
While the prices of wood, candle wax, gas
and electricity have tended to increase, the
price of light has fallen. Our statistics not
only fail to reect the trend, they mistake
the direction.
Prof. Nordhaus went on to suggest that
measures of real wages, real incomes and, of
course, prices might therefore be in error by
a large margin. Yet despite a brief icker of
interest when some politicians hoped that
this kind of analysis might be used to curb
increases in state pensions, the methodol-
ogy behind ofcial economic statistics has
barely changed.
If we had asked the Athenian general at
Marathon what advances would help him,
he would have asked for sturdier shields and
faster runners. Henry Ford observed that
his customers would have asked for a faster
horse. Militiades did not imagine that what
he really needed was a ber-optic cable.
The true heroes of our time are the phi-
losophers who see that messages can be
made to travel at the speed of light, and the
entrepreneurs who see that the best
way to do things better is usually to
do them diferently.
By John Kay
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Democracy, S3/2
By Martin Wolf
more than 50 in the number of
anocracies regimes whose gov-
ernance is highly unstable, inef-
fective and corrupt. Such regimes
may be crumbling autocracies or
failing democracies. They are also
vulnerable to outbreaks of armed
conflict or forcible seizures of
power.
What then are the underpin-
nings of a stable and successful de-
mocracy? The brief answer is that
a democracy requires a double set
of restraints: among the people
and between the people and the
state. These restraints rest on four
features, all of them necessary.
There is no easy path
to democracy
Could Ukraine become a stable
liberal democracy? The answer to
this question has to be: yes. Will
Ukraine become a stable liberal
democracy? The answer to that is:
we do not know. We do know that
other countries have reached the
destination. But we also know that
universal sufrage democracy is a
delicate plant, particularly in its
early years. What has happened to
young democracies in, say, Egypt,
Thailand, Russia and Ukraine un-
derlines that truth. Democracy is
delicate because it is a complex
and, in crucial respects, unnatural
game.
My starting point is that govern-
ment accountable to the governed
is the only form suitable for grown-
ups. All other forms of government
treat people as children. In the
past, when most people were il-
literate, such paternalism might
have been justified. That can no
longer be true. As the population
becomes more informed, govern-
ments that treat their peoples in
this way will be less acceptable. I
expect (or hope) that, in the long
run, this will be true even of China.
The evidence is consistent with
this optimism. According to the
Polity IV database, almost 100
countries are (more or less imper-
fect) democracies. This is double
the number in 1990. In 1800, there
were none. The number of true au-
tocracies has also tumbled sharply,
from roughly 90 in 1990 to about
20 now. Unfortunately, there has
been a rise from roughly 20 to
First of all, democracies need
citizens. Citizens are not only
people who engage in public life,
though they are also that. Above
all, citizens accept that their loy-
alty to the processes they share
must override loyalty to their own
political side. Citizens understand
the idea of a loyal opposition.
They accept the legitimacy of
government run by and even for
their opponents, confident that
they may have their own turn in
time. Citizens, it follows, do not
use the political process to destroy
the ability of their opponents to
operate in peace. They accept the
legitimacy of dissent, even vocifer-
ous protest. They rule out only the
use of force. Of course, some op-
ponents are unacceptable above
all those who reject the legitimacy
of democratic process. A country
short of citizens is permanently
poised on the edge of break-up or
civil war.
Second, democracies need
guardians, a term used by the late
Jane Jacobs in her superb book,
Systems of Survival. Guardians
hold positions of political, bu-
reaucratic, legal or military power.
What makes them guardians, as
Worlds boutiques
at his ngertips
By Jonathan Moules
For a company built around sell-
ing luxurious clothing online
direct from the worlds most ex-
clusive independent fashion bou-
tiques, the staf at Farfetchs head-
quarters in London are a bit of a
disappointment. The dominant
style among the people hunched
over their computers in a sparse
converted factory in Clerkenwell
appears to be a grungy mix of T-
shirts, jeans, checked shirts and
trainers.
That may be because although
Farfetch is helping fashionistas
everywhere nd beautiful and dis-
tinctive clothes while also giving
small boutiques a global reach, it
is at heart a technology company.
Like other web-based market-
places, such as eBay or Amazon,
Farfetch has hit a high-growth
trajectory by building a critical
mass of both buyers and sellers.
In less than seven years it has be-
come an online home for 300 or
so independent boutiques from
So Paulo to Milan. The customers
are spread just as far and wide.
More than half live outside the
US and the UK, with Brazil, China
and Australia among the biggest
markets.
There is no need to dress up to
work in the ofce, says Jos Neves,
the founder, after dashing over
from one of the glass-walled meet-
ing rooms. He himself, however,
seems to be doing his bit to raise
the sartorial standards. Looking
younger than his 39 years, he looks
set for the catwalk in a stylish
shirt, neatly tapered trousers and
designer shoes. That is because he
needs to test the Farfetch service,
he smiles.
Im not a compulsive fashion
buyer, like my wife. Im much
more of the typical male shopper
more opportunistic. I am driven
by spurts of thinking, OK, I need
clothes, I dont have any clothes so
lets spend 2,000 and thats [my]
wardrobe.
New business models that blend
the worlds of fashion and technol-
ogy, such as Farfetchs, are increas-
ingly common in London, one of
the few cities in the world that is
a center for both industries. Net-
a-Porter pioneered the concept of
designer clothes retailing online
in 2000 with the launch of a web
site posing as a fashion magazine,
while Asos pulled of a similar trick
for the mass market.
They have been followed by tech
companies such as EDITD, whose
software systems have automated
the process of tracking the styles
that are selling in the shops and
how they are viewed in the fashion
press and social media discus-
sions.
Farfetchs sales last year reached
180 million, more than double the
gure a year before. It is in growth
mode, which is tech investor
speak for a company still making a
loss in the hope of winning market
share first. Backers include Ad-
vent Venture Partners and Index
Ventures, two of Europes biggest
technology venture capital rms,
and Cond Nast, whose stable of
titles includes Vogue.
Mr. Neves has become used to
ying to diferent countries about
three times a month to meet new
boutique owners joining Farfetch.
The company is hiring staff so
fast he is not even sure how many
people work in the London ofce:
There are 380 in total [across
London, Portugal, the US and Bra-
zil]. I think there are 80 people
here, but thats only an estimate.
Boutiques, S3/2
REUTERS
Democracy,
fromS3/ 1
Time to modernize
By Rachel Sanderson

The Financial Times Limited [2012]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modied in anyway. (The client) is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation.
S3/2 Thursday, March 6, 2014
As the tourist season was heating
up last summer in the southern
Italian region of Puglia, officials
from the Bank of Italy seized con-
trol of a small cooperative bank in
Alberobello, the sun-baked town
known for its whitewashed trulli
houses.
Inspectors had been poring over
the books at Banca di Credito Co-
operativo di Alberobello as part
of the preparations for this years
stress tests of European banks.
But this routine exam turned up
serious breaches of anti-money
laundering rules at the bank. Pros-
ecutors later alleged that a long-
standing board member was fun-
neling money for the local maa.
The case of tiny Banca Albero-
bello may be an isolated and ex-
treme example but it highlights
growing concern about govern-
ance and lending standards in
hundreds of small banks in Italy.
As the European Central Bank
(ECB) prepares to conduct stress
tests and asset quality reviews of
hundreds of banks across the euro
zone, there is particular worry
among some European regulators
about Italys banks.
These concerns have led the
Bank of Italy to conduct its own
intensive examinations across the
nation, such as the one at Banca
Alberobello, ahead of the ECB
tests. From Banca di Sicilia in the
deep south to Banco di Trento e
Bolzano, in the German-speaking
northeast, the Bank of Italy is stag-
ing its toughest examination of the
nations banks in history.
Italian banks came out among
the weakest in the EUs stress tests
in 2011. Its worst performing was
Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italys
third largest bank by assets that
has since been the subject of its
third state bailout in four years, as
well as a scandal about the alleged
use of hidden derivatives to hide
losses.
Italian ofcials say the country
cannot aford another failure as it
struggles to emerge from a crip-
pling two-year recession. The
Bank of Italy is urging some of the
nations largest lenders to raise
capital in the markets to build a
buffer against potential loan de-
faults and bolster investor con-
dence.
It is also pressing weaker mid-
sized banks to merge to create
stronger balance sheets while seiz-
ing control of vulnerable smaller
banks, such as that in Alberobello.
Despite the public cleanup,
industry insiders say the Italian
banking system will not be truly
reformed until regulators tackle
the systems centuries-old culture
of campanilismo a system in
which local communities protect
their own.
Campanilismo has left Italy
with too many lenders to serve
an economy that has generated
little growth over the past dec-
ade, bankers argue. The result is
a banking sector plagued by weak
protability and weak banks can-
not provide the lending needed to
stimulate the economy.
The cap hikes will go well, says
a large foreign investor. There is
a lot of money looking for cheap
assets. If you compare [Italian
banks] with the book value of
Spanish banks you are going to
make money. But it doesnt ad-
dress the structural issues. Italy
is overbanked and protability is
poor.
Italy has almost 700 banks, em-
ploying 310,000 people in 33,000
branches. The banks total assets
are 3.5 trillion, worth 225% of
gross domestic product.
Up until 2010, Italys banks were
held up as an exemplar of the ad-
vantages of conservative banking.
They withstood the nancial crisis
better than their European and US
peers due to an aversion to risky
derivative products and high sav-
ings rates among Italians.
Their ties to their local commu-
nities sometimes dating back
hundreds of years strengthened
this conservatism. Even its larg-
est banks by assets, UniCredit and
Intesa Sanpaolo, which are in re-
ality an amalgamation of dozens
of smaller banks, largely remain
rooted in their local towns.
But as the European debt crisis
hit in 2011 and the Italian econo-
my fell into recession, the Italian
banks focus on lending to local
small and midsized businesses was
no longer a source of strength.
Weakness in Italys real economy
and the link between the nancial
sector and the sovereign remain
crucial risks to the banking sys-
tem, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has warned. Non-
performing loans rose to a record
155 billion at the end of last year,
according to ABI, the Italian bank-
ing association.
Weak profitability and dete-
riorating loan quality are the most
pressing vulnerabilities afecting
Italian banks, the IMF said.
Today five of Italys 15 largest
banks are already lined up for a
capital increase for an aggregate
amount of about 7 billion in the
coming weeks. These are Monte
dei Paschi di Siena; Banca Popo-
lare di Milano and Banco Popolare,
the fth and sixth largest by assets;
Carige, the main bank in the port
city of Genoa; and Popolare di Vi-
cenza in the northeast.
The number of Italian banks
coming to market to raise funds is
not expected to stop there. Gold-
man Sachs estimates that the ag-
gregate shortfall for the Italian
banking sector stands at a mid-
point of 17 billion. The worst-
case scenario puts the shortfall at
23 billion.
We will see others raising
funds in the public markets, says
a senior Italian investment banker
who has many of Italys largest
banks as clients. Whereas every-
one was very condent, that swag-
ger has now gone. No one is safe
any more, he says.
Even UniCredit and Intesa San-
paolo, which are considered safely
within the ECB rules, are still see-
ing many of their loans to small
and midsized companies turn sour
as economic growth stalls. Both
are taking steps to sell these loans
to clean up their balance sheets.
Alberto Nagel, chief executive of
Mediobanca, the Milanese bank,
has said he is looking at doing the
same to clean up the bad loan ex-
posure held by smaller banks.
The pressure of the stress tests is
even showing signs of prompting
long-awaited consolidation among
some of Italys smaller regional,
cooperative popolari banks.
UBI and Banco Popolare of Ve-
rona, BPM and Banca Popolare
dellEmilia Romagna, Credito
Valtellinese and Banca Popolare
di Sondrio are all considered pos-
sible tie-ups, according to senior
bankers with direct knowledge of
discussions.
The Bank of Italy has brought
13 smaller banks under its direct
control, including Alberobello. Al-
berto Gallo, senior credit analyst
at RBS, believes that in Europe,
Italian mid-tier banks need to
reform the most, not just in raising
capital but also in consolidating,
reducing costs and increasing ef-
ciency.
The pressure being imposed by
the Bank of Italy has irked some
bank chief executives. The Bank
of Italy is making up in a year for
20 years of not doing its job prop-
erly, says the chief executive of a
large Italian bank.
But investors and analysts say
the timing of the capital raising is
good. Foreign interest in Italy, par-
ticularly from the US, has picked
up because valuations are still low
compared with Greek and Spanish
banks. Italian banks have lost 20%
of their value since January 2011.
EU banks on average are down
only 5%.
For Antonio Patuelli, chairman
of the ever-bullish Italian bank-
ing association, a year from now
Italys banking system will have
been vindicated.
Those banks that cannot go it
alone will need to do capital hikes,
sell things, undertake mergers.
But the stress tests are going to be
a positive surprise. After all these
years people are going to realize
that Italy is not the sick man of
Europe, he says.
Yet even if the stress tests go as
well as Mr. Patuelli predicts, many
in the industry say the Bank of
Italy will still need to tackle the
most vexing issue in Italian bank-
ing: the governance structures of
community banks.
Cooperatives and banks under
significant influence of bank-
ing foundations not-for-profit
organizations made up of local
community leaders that still hold
majority stakes in most Italian
banks fared noticeably worse in
the last stress tests.
Senior European ofcials argue
that Italy should follow the exam-
ple of Spain, where 45 banks were
turned into about 10 through a
series of mergers. But local ties in
Italy make that difcult.
One senior bank executive de-
scribes the banking system as the
glue that holds Italy together. He
describes a complex network in
which banking shareholders and
foundations are woven into poli-
tics and the Italian economy, while
unions hold seats on the boards of
the banks through foundations.
We need a solvent to wash it
away, he says.
Mr. Patuelli, a former govern-
ment undersecretary who chairs a
bank in the seaside town of Raven-
na, rejects the idea that commu-
nity ties have ossied Italys banks
or even that politics plays any
role in the industry.
Foundations are long-term in-
stitutional investors that are vital
in a country like Italy where there
is a lack of capital and institutional
investors, such as foreign pension
funds, he says.
The example of Banca Popolare
di Milano provides a salutary les-
son for investors about the dif-
culties of investing in the Italian
system.
Andrea Bonomi, the Italian-
American founder and senior
principal at investment firm
Investindustrial, took a gamble
on investing in BPM in October
2011. Mr. Bonomi, who made a suc-
cessful investment in Ducati, the
motorcycle maker, sensed a good
opportunity if the local bank of
Italys richest city could clean up
its balance sheet and governance.
This overhaul appeared to be
under way when Mr. Bonomi
made his investment. Its former
management had resigned after
the Bank of Italy raised concerns
about the banks century-old gov-
ernance structure that gave each
shareholder one vote. This gave
a hard core of unionists rooted
in the local community effective
control of the bank.
Massimo Ponzellini, its former
chairman, was placed under house
arrest in May 2012 after being ac-
cused of false accounting and pay-
ing kickbacks to local politicians.
He has denied the charges.
Yet in spite of the scandal and
pressure from regulators, BPMS
unionist core remains intent on
retaining control. Mr. Bonomi
sold his entire 8.6% stake in Janu-
ary after he was blocked by other
board members from introducing
governance changes that would
have diluted the unions power.
Mr. Bonomi made a small profit
but not as much as he had hoped.
Still, Citigroup estimates earnings
will rise if corporate governance
improves at the bank, as execu-
tives have promised.
When asked a few weeks before
his stake sale whether he would
make the investment again, Mr.
Bonomi said: Probably not.
Mr. Gallo at RBS admits that
reform is not simple in Italy, with
intricate cross-shareholdings and
shared directorships complicat-
ing efforts. He adds: However,
reform and recapitalization of
the banks is critical to get
credit flowing to the real
economy again.
opposed to bandits, is that they
use their positions not for per-
sonal material advantage, but in
accordance with objective rules
or in favor of a notion of the com-
monweal. Viktor Yanukovich,
Ukraines ousted president, is as
good an example of an antithesis
to this as one can imagine. Yet his
motives for seeking power were
also the traditional ones. Through-
out history, power and wealth
were conjoined. The idea that the
two should be separate was and, in
many places, still is revolutionary.
Mr. Yanukovich believed instead
in his right to loot and shoot. That
is no basis for democratic legiti-
macy.
Third, democracies need mar-
kets. By markets we denitely do
not mean the abuse of the power
of state to turn public into private
wealth, as happened throughout
so much of the former Soviet
Union. Business people who build
their fortunes on such theft are no
more legitimate than the politi-
cians who helped them.
Properly functioning markets
supported by a well-functioning
state provide crucial underpin-
nings of stable democracy. First,
they support prosperity. A society
able to ensure a decent and rea-
sonably secure standard of living
is also likely to be a stable one.
This then would be a society of
trust in ones fellow citizens and
ones economic future. Second,
markets loosen the connection
between prosperity and power.
They make it possible for people to
regard the outcomes of elections
as important, but not as matters of
life or death either for themselves
or for their families. This lowers
the temperature of politics from
the burning to the bearable.
Finally, if all these complex, al-
beit essential, systems are to be
effective, democracies need ac-
cepted laws, including not least
constitutional ones (even if some-
times unwritten). The law, enacted
and implemented in accordance
with accepted procedures, shapes
the rules of the political, social and
economic game. A country that
lacks the rule of law is permanent-
ly on the verge of chaos or tyranny
the unhappy fate of Russia over
the centuries.
Democracy then is about much
more than voting. It is certainly
not one adult, one vote, once.
Nor, for that matter, is it one adult,
one rigged vote, many times. It
is a complex web of rights, obli-
gations, powers and constraints.
Democracy is either the political
expression of free individuals act-
ing together, or it is nothing. Those
who have won an election do not
have the right to do as they please.
That is not a true democracy, but
elected dictatorship.
Can outsiders help a people on
the road towards democracy? Yes,
they can. The helpful economic
and political role of the EU in cen-
tral and eastern Europe has shown
that. Are backward steps imag-
inable? Yes, Hungary is showing
just that. Can bad neighbors blight
hopes? Yes, that is possible, too.
We have indeed seen many fail-
ures along the path to democracy.
Egypt is a salient one: it may have
lacked too many of the necessary
conditions for success. Today, we
can see that Ukraine has created
its third chance since 1991. But the
country will need a great deal of
help. The west has provided such
help to others. But the country will
itself also need to move towards
quite new rules of the social game:
it must engender true citizens,
honest guardians, proper markets
and just laws. Is such a revolution-
ary shift possible? I do not know.
But of one thing I am quite
certain. It is well worth the
attempt.
Boutiques,
fromS3/ 1
He grew up in Porto, Portugals
second largest city and a regional
center for the textile industry,
surrounded by friends and family
involved in the clothing industry.
My grandfather used to have
a shoe factory, he says, and he
always aspired to have his own
business.
He also got an edge when he
learnt coding at just eight years
old. His parents had bought him a
ZX Spectrum computer for Christ-
mas not realizing it did not come
with games.
After I got over the initial disap-
pointment, it was actually amaz-
ing, Mr. Neves says.
He launched his rst company,
Grey Matter, which developed
software for clothing manufac-
turers, in 1994 while studying
economics at university in Porto.
Two of his recruits then are now
senior executives in the software
engineering team at FarFetchs
technology operation in Porto.
Mr. Neves then decided to try
his hand at shoe design and moved
to London in 1996 to open a shop,
called Swear, in Covent Garden.
I sat down in a caf to watch
what the people passing by were
wearing and started designing a
collection, he says. The result was
the brand B Store, which in 2006
won a British fashion award.
The idea for Farfetch struck in
2007. Independent retailers such
as his were popular with custom-
ers yet they struggled to win rec-
ognition online. Why not create a
single site for all of them? In the
process he set up a business that
was neither pure retailer, such as
Net-a-Porter, nor a marketplace
such as eBay, but an online shop
front for bricks-and-mortar bou-
tiques.
We do not buy the inventory,
Mr. Neves says, noting that this re-
moves the need for large amounts
of working capital.
To buy inventory and build
warehouses you need money. You
also take a risk on your new stock.
This means there comes a point
where your growth must slow
down because the bets get higher
and higher. We do not have that
constraint.
Although Farfetch stretches
from Porto to a sales ofce in Cer-
ritos, California, and others in be-
tween, Mr. Neves says a key reason
for the companys success is its
European origins.
If you look at all digital innova-
tion in fashion ... all the pioneering
companies come from Europe.
The ash-sales model was a French
invention, started by Vente-Prive
in France and then copied by Gilt
and a bunch of others. If you look
at luxury retail, Net-a-Porter was
the pioneer.
British brand Asos, he adds, is
amazing ... before Asos, it was un-
thinkable that you could build a
fashion brand without opening
stores or selling to physical stores.
Mr. Neves is now focusing on
plans to launch Chinese, Japanese
and Russian language Web sites.
London is the one place, he says,
where you can find natives from
each of these countries who have
experience of working for online
businesses.
Ninety percent of the people
here in this ofce are foreigners
we are very common for London,
he says.
Although Europe now has sev-
eral hot spots for start-ups, such
as Berlin and Stockholm, the UK
capital continues to draw ambi-
tious founders because it has more
in the way of funding opportuni-
ties and support networks. People
arriving from most countries can
nd fellow citizens.
Farfetchs international reach is
reected in its tax arrangements.
The company les accounts in the
UK, Brazil and the US, but these all
come under a holding company on
the Isle of Man.
Our tax structure is proper but
its not aggressive, Mr. Neves says,
stifening slightly in his chair. He
notes that since the company is
still lossmaking the question of
where it pays corporation tax,
which has become contentious for
other tech companies, is not cur-
rently an issue.
Europe has helped Mr. Neves get
this far but his outlook is beyond.
The UK generates only about 10%
of sales and Asian markets are
growing much faster. Maybe we
are seen as European right now,
but in the future, I dont
think we will be seen as a
company based anywhere.
Thursday, March 6, 2014 S3/3
GENEVA Daimlers Mercedes
and Nissans Inniti plan to pool
development of compact cars to
cut costs, expand the German car
makers North American pro-
duction and broaden the Inniti
lineup, people familiar with the
matter said.
The outline deal, which reinforc-
es Daimlers relationship with the
Renault-Nissan alliance, will see
Nissan build the next-generation
Mercedes GLA sport utility vehicle
(SUV) and related models in Mexi-
co alongside all-new cars for its own
Inniti brand, said the sources, who
asked not to be identied.
The plans are due to be pre-
sented to the Daimler board for
approval as soon as April, the
sources said, with the rst jointly
manufactured vehicles expected
in late 2017.
Daimler and Nissan have said
they are looking to increase coop-
eration in smaller premium cars,
but neither car maker would con-
rm the Mexico production plan
on Tuesday.
The companies have yet to reach
a joint formal decision, Infiniti
Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) Jo-
han de Nysschen said in an inter-
view at the Geneva auto show. But
Mexico does have a lot going for
it, he added, including tarif-free
exports to the US and Europe.
Mercedes, Nissan and alliance
partner Renault have shared en-
gines, plants and vehicle archi-
tectures for small cars and vans
since Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche
and Renault-Nissan boss Carlos
Ghosn announced a broad-based
partnership in 2010, underpinned
by token reciprocal shareholdings.
The latest agreement will help
Inniti to ll a big gap at the bot-
tom end of its model range with a
new SUV, sedan and coupe built
with the same parts and architec-
Mercedes, Infniti to pool small cars, plant
ture as successors to the Mercedes
A- and B-Class, GLA and CLA, the
sources said.
In return, Daimler gets a first
North American production site
for its front-wheel drive MFA
architecture, development savings
and economies of scale in a vehi-
cle category where it has struggled
in the past with low protability.
Such a deal could make good
sense for both partners, said Ron-
ald Harbour, an automotive con-
sultant with Oliver Wyman. For
Mercedes it would allow them to
get into that market without hav-
ing to invest massive capital.
The new Mercedes and Inniti
models will be built at Nissans
Aguacalientes 2 plant northeast of
Guadalajara, opened in November
with an initial production capac-
ity of 175,000 vehicles, the sources
said.
The initiative will cut the cost
by about a quarter compared with
going it alone, two of the sources
said. In a sign of deepening co-
operation, the new investments
will be split evenly despite the
higher production volumes ex-
pected for Mercedes.
Some people argue that we
should (negotiate) with Daimler
because they will sell more cars on
the platform, one Renault-Nissan
executive said. But thats what
gets in the way of successful alli-
ances.
To build the new models
in China, their most important
growth market, both car makers
would have to establish separate
assembly lines with their joint
venture partners Dongfeng and
Beijing Auto according to the same
sources.
Its a bit more complex in
China, one said. But you still get
all the savings from sharing parts
and supply networks. Reuters
SEOUL South Koreas Hyun-
dai Motor Co. dialed back on the
edgier designs that helped it win
market share abroad ve years
ago, launching on Tuesday a
toned-down, angular version of its
popular Sonata sedan to appeal to
conservative drivers at home.
Hyundai, the worlds fth larg-
est car maker with its Kia Motors
Corp. affiliate, is banking on the
first restyling of the midsize se-
dan since 2009 to help reverse a
slowdown in sales and revenue
growth, as it battles competition
from foreign rivals at home and a
slide in reliability rankings in the
United States, its second biggest
market after China.
The company posted its first
year-on-year fall in quarterly
revenue in nearly three years in
the fourth quarter of last year and
forecast its global sales growth
would slow to 4% in 2014 from 7%
in 2013.
LIKE CAMRY
Automotive industry experts said
the revamped Sonata looked more
like the midsize Camry sedan by
Hyundais Japanese rival Toyota
Motor Corp. The car, which Hyun-
dai has been making since 1985,
will go on sale in March in South
Korea and later in the United
States.
Hyundai has followed Camry
in adopting a bland design, said
a person who has close profes-
sional links with Hyundai and
who declined to be named as he
is not authorized to speak to the
media.
US consumers are now used
to the Sonatas distinctive styling
and it will be challenging for the
new Sonata to stand out in the US
market.
Hyundai officials appeared to
acknowledge that the redesign
could face hurdles in the United
States. Design executive Juh
Byung-chul told Reuters that US
consumer tests showed the new
design was good enough and ac-
ceptable.
TOP SELLER
The Sonata is Hyundais second
top seller after its Elantra model
in the United States and Korea.
The current model, with its dis-
tinctive curvy design, took the
United States by storm when
it was introduced five years
ago, helping Hyundai to almost
double sales to 230,605 in three
years.
Sales of the current Sonata,
however, fell in Korea to 89,400
in 2013 from a peak of 152,023 in
2010, a factor that prompted com-
pany chairman, Chung Mong-koo,
and top management to push for
more conservative redesign for the
new model.
Hyundai said it aims to sell
4.9 million vehicles this year,
although it did not disclose pric-
ing and sales targets for the new
Sonata.
Korea has become an increas-
ingly important market for Hyun-
dai as it ghts against a rising tide
of imports, with the likes of Ger-
manys Volkswagen AG benefit-
ing from free trade deals that cut
tarifs.
The new Sonata is key for
Hyundai to restore sales and
reputation at home and abroad,
said Lee Sang-hyun, an analyst at
NH Investment & Securities.
Reuters
Hyundai goes
for bland over
bold in Sonata
make-over
GENEVA French car maker
Renault has trimmed its growth
forecast for the global market this
year as the industry becomes in-
creasingly worried about volatile
emerging markets just when de-
mand in Europe is starting to pick
up.
Renaults sales chief Jerome
Stoll said at the Geneva auto show
on Tuesday the group now expects
global vehicle sales to rise by
slightly less than the 2% previ-
ously forecast.
While Europe is showing some
signs of recovery, we are at the
same time seeing some headwinds
from emerging markets, he said,
citing in particular weaker than
expected demand in Russia, Ar-
gentina, Turkey and Algeria.
After a six-year sales slump,
Europes car market is finally
showing signs of recovery as even
Emerging markets gloom could overshadow European rebound
the countries hardest hit by the
euro zone debt crisis move out of
recession. Industry data on Mon-
day showed car sales in Germany,
Italy and Spain rose last month,
although they dipped in France.
But some emerging markets
such as Brazil and Russia have
seen a slowdown in demand, and
executives are concerned the lat-
est bout of volatility sparked by
Russias intervention in Ukraine
could lead to a further weakening
as some currencies come under
further pressure.
Some countries have seen
their currencies devalue by 20%,
30% or 35%. That always has
consequences very strong con-
sequences if one doesnt produce
locally, Christian Klingler, sales
chief at Europes biggest car maker
Volkswagen (VW), told Reuters at
the show late on Monday.
RUSSIAN BEARS
Until recently, Russia had been
tipped to overtake Germany to be-
come Europes biggest car maker,
drawing in investment from West-
ern manufacturers including Gen-
eral Motors, Ford, Renault and
Fiat.
But a slowing economy saw
new car sales fall 5.5% last year,
bringing three years of double-
digit percentage growth to an end,
and Russias AEB auto association
was forecasting another decline
of 1.6% this year, even before the
recent plunge in the ruble.
Were a major trade partner
of Russia and are looking at the
Ukraine and Russia with concern,
said VW Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Martin Winterkorn.
Renault, which along with part-
ner Nissan is one of the biggest car
sellers in Russia, also said it was
following events there closely. The
pair build cars with OAO AvtoVAZ
and are taking control of the Rus-
sian car maker this year.
However, Mr. Stoll said Renault
was better positioned in the event
of a collapse of the rouble than
many rivals operating in the coun-
try because it sourced many parts
locally.
Citi analysts estimate Russia
accounted for about 8% of Re-
naults worldwide sales last year
and that the groups exposure to
the country was worth about 2.3
a share, compared with its 88
target price for the stock.
ENCOURAGING SIGNS
Despite the concerns about some
emerging markets, car industry
executives remain mostly opti-
mistic, pointing to the continued
strength of demand in China, the
worlds biggest auto market, and
improvements elsewhere.
We have seen the leveling out
in western Europe over the last
year and the very rst sign that it
can become stronger now, said
Ralf Speth, CEO of Tata Motors
luxury British car maker Jaguar
Land Rover.
Were seeing the US recover-
ing more, and we still see a very
solid China, he added, while con-
ceding uncertainty over events
in Ukraine made it hard to make
predictions.
Renaults Mr. Stoll was also en-
couraged by the strength of recov-
ery in previously crisis-hit Europe-
an countries such as Italy, Portugal
and Spain, and said the reduction to
the groups global growth forecast
was just a minor adjustment.
Its a question of tenths of a per-
centage point, he said. Reuters
GENEVA Volkswagens (VW) plan
to build a budget car for emerging mar-
kets, a key part of its drive to become the
worlds biggest automaker, has stalled
because the German group is struggling
to meet cost targets for the vehicle, a VW
executive told Reuters.
Europes largest car maker has been
trying for more than a year to hit internal
cost requirements for the vehicle, which
would likely sell for between 6,000
($8,300) and 8,000 and be built in China,
the biggest market for budget cars.
Its becoming more and more dif-
cult to hit cost goals necessary to ap-
prove production of a budget car, VW
brand development chief Heinz-Jakob
Neusser told Reuters at the Geneva auto
show on Tuesday.
It makes no sense to approve a ve-
hicle thats not meeting our targets, he
said, adding VW would keep working on
fullling the requirements.
VW lacks a strong presence in mar-
kets such as India and Southeast Asia
which are dominated by no-frills models,
and without a successful budget car, ana-
lysts have questioned whether the group
will be able to meet its goal of becoming
the worlds biggest car maker by 2018.
A 2009 partnership with Suzuki Mo-
tor Corp., designed to benet from the
Japanese manufacturers leading posi-
tion in India, fell apart in 2011 in a public
squabble.
In the meantime, low-cost cars from
rivals such as Hyundai and Toyota have
powered ahead in Asia. Frances Renault
has also been cushioned from a slump in
European car sales by its expansion into
entry-level cars, which surged to account
for 41% of its global registrations from
below 30% in just two years.
News regarding cost problems re-
lated to VWs internal structures arent
new, said Arndt Ellinghorst, London-
based analyst at ISI Group. But the fact
that these keep coming up, despite (the
cost-cutting) MQB modular platform
and in light of VWs light outlook, is
somewhat alerting.
On Feb. 21, VW toned down its guid-
ance for 2014 operating prot even after
publishing record earnings of 11.7 bil-
lion ($16.1 billion) for 2013 which beat
company expectations.
If approved, a budget car would un-
dercut VWs 9,850 Up! city car, the
brands smallest and cheapest model
that is only sold in Europe and Japan.
The two-door vehicle came to market
in December 2011 and was launched as
VWs rst electric-powered car last year.
To keep down assembly costs, VW has
said it would use preexisting mechan-
ics from models that have gone out of
production or are nearing the end of
production, rather than develop new
costly underpinnings for the budget car
from scratch. Reuters
VW stalls budget car plan,
struggles to meet cost targets
GENEVA The Jeep Renegade, which
debuted at the Geneva auto show on
Tuesday, will be the rst true test of the
recent marriage between Italian car
maker Fiat and its US unit Chrysler,
meant to allow both to share technology,
cash and dealer networks.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA)
new small Jeep should help the car mak-
er reach an ambitious sales target of one
million vehicles for the brand this year
and will test the worlds seventh largest
auto groups ability to compete globally.
Through the alliance, brands like Jeep
hope to gain a global manufacturing foot-
print in Fiats home turf in Europe and in
fast-growing markets such as Brazil, which
has long been one of Fiats strongholds.
The investment that Fiat has already
made, now gives the opportunity to Jeep
to expand its manufacturing footprint at
lightning speed, Mike Manley, head of
theJeep brand, said at the launch of the
Renegade.
Even though analysts believe Jeep
is the only truly global brand in FCAs
portfolio, they are cautious about the
one-million target, a 37% jump from
2013.
The brand traces its roots to the iconic
World War Two military vehicle and has
had multiple owners over the past seven
decades.
While the Wrangler and Grand Cher-
okee models are the best-selling Jeeps, it
is through models like the Renegade that
FCA hopes to expand the brand outside
North America.
Mr. Manley said the small, entry-level
Jeep is not only fuel efficient, but its
compact size is better matched to nar-
rower European roads than some other
models in the brands family.
The Jeep Renegade will be produced
at the Mel plant in southern Italy, mak-
ing it the rst Jeep built exclusively out-
side the United States.
The small SUV retains many classic
Jeep characteristics, with squared-off
nose, boxy design and round headlights
reecting its Wrangler-derived DNA.
Reuters
Italy-made Jeep true test
of Fiat-Chryslers tandem
World Business
Thursday, March 6, 2014 4/S3 World Markets
LONDON-BRENT
(APRIL CONTRACT)
ASIA-DUBAI
(MARCH CONTRACT)
Source: Reuters
s DOLLARS PER BBL
J
s DOLLARS PER BBL
J
NEW YORK-WTI
(APRIL CONTRACT)
s DOLLARS PER BBL
J
Feb. 26 27 28 3 4
$/bbl 109.52 108.96 109.07 111.20 109.30
Average (Mar. 3-4) $106.60
Average (Feb. 3-28) $104.92
Feb. 26 27 28 3 4
$/bbl 102.59 102.40 102.59 104.92 103.33
Average (Mar. 3-4) $110.25
Average (Feb. 3-28) $108.84
Average (Mar. 3-4) $104.13
Average (Feb. 3-28) $100.67
Feb. 26 27 28 3 4
$/bbl 105.42 105.32 105.40 107.15 106.05
J 30 days to March 4 J 30 days to March 4 J 30 days to March 4
90
95
100
105
110
115
90
95
100
105
110
115
90
95
100
105
110
115
US COMMODITY FUTURES
Source: Reuters
MARCH 4, 2014
PLATINUM
(APRIL CONTRACT)
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 1460.30 CLOSE: 1464.10
HIGH: 1467.60 NET: 3.40
LOW: 1442.00 PREV: 1460.70
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 1350.00 CLOSE: 1337.90
HIGH: 1352.90 NET: -12.40
LOW: 1331.20 PREV: 1350.30
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
GOLD
(APRIL CONTRACT)
1,365
1,385
1,405
1,425
1,445
1,465
1,220
1,247
1,274
1,301
1,328
1,355
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 21.49 CLOSE: 21.19
HIGH: 21.49 NET: -0.26
LOW: 21.01 PREV: 21.45
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
SILVER
(MARCH CONTRACT)
Dollars per ounce
OPEN: 3.22 CLOSE: 3.26
HIGH: 3.27 NET: 0.04
LOW: 3.21 PREV: 3.22
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
COPPER
(MARCH CONTRACT)
19.00
19.70
20.40
21.10
21.80
22.50
3.17
3.22
3.27
3.32
3.37
3.42
US cents per pound
OPEN 194.90 CLOSE: 185.15
HIGH: 194.90 NET: -7.45
LOW: 184.90 PREV: 192.60
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
COFFEE
(MARCH CONTRACT)
US cents per pound
OPEN: 17.80 CLOSE: 17.74
HIGH: 17.80 NET: -0.06
LOW: 17.44 PREV: 17.80
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
SUGAR
(MAY CONTRACT)
110
127
144
161
178
195
14.70
15.35
16.00
16.65
17.30
17.95
US cents per pound
OPEN: 2852.00 CLOSE: 2923.00
HIGH: 2852.00 NET: 29.00
LOW: 2852.00 PREV: 2894.00
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
COCOA
(MARCH CONTRACT)
Dollars per bushel
OPEN: 620.00 CLOSE: 639.75
HIGH 640.00 NET: 13.00
LOW: 618.00 PREV: 626.75
30 days to MARCH 4,2014
WHEAT
(MARCH CONTRACT)
2650
2710
2770
2830
2890
2950
545
565
585
605
625
645
NEW YORK Crude oil fell near-
ly 2% on Tuesday on comments
from President Vladimir Putin
that eased concerns Russia would
escalate its military intervention
in Ukraines Crimea peninsula.
Mr. Putin told reporters Russia
reserved the right to intervene
in the Ukraine crisis, but would
only use force as a last resort.
Coupled with news that Rus-
sian troops engaged in military
exercises near the Ukraine border
were ordered to return to their
bases, oil prices slid from the ve-
month highs it reached Monday.
The receding fears of a dis-
ruption of the Russian crude oil
supply and the easing geopolitical
concerns are weighing on crude,
said Dwayne Pliska, senior trading
consultant for HighGround trad-
ing in Chicago, Illinois.
April Brent crude settled $1.90
lower at $109.30 a barrel, after it
ended the previous session at its
highest close this year.
US crude for April deliveryset-
tled $1.59 lower at $103.33, after
rising to $105.22 on Monday, the
highest level since Sept. 19.
Oil products prices retreated in
tandem with US crude. New York
ultra-low sulfur diesel futures, of-
ten called heating oil, fell nearly 4
cents to $3.0407 per gallon, after
it settled more than 6 cents higher
at $3.0805 in the previous session.
US gasoline RBOB fell by more
than 3 cents to $2.9853 per gallon
after it settled more than 4 cents
higher a day earlier.
US commercial crude oil inven-
tories rose by 1.2 million barrels last
week, in line with expectations, in-
ventory data released by the Ameri-
can Petroleum Institute showed
on Tuesday. Stockpiles at Cushing,
Oklahoma, where the American
benchmark is priced, fell by 2.6 mil-
lion barrels, the data showed.
The governments Energy In-
formation Administration will
publish its data on Wednesday at
10:30 a.m. EST.
SUPPLY CONCERNS
Mr. Putins statements raised in-
vestors hopes for a peaceful reso-
lution with Ukraine. The crisis
caused a sell-of in global equities
on Monday as investors worried
the oil supply from Russia, could
be disrupted or subject to sanc-
tions.
Imports of Russian oil are so
crucial for Europe that it is un-
likely sanctions will be imposed,
said Seth Kleinman, head of en-
ergy research at Citi.
In Libya, top officials produc-
tion at the El Sharara oilfield
may resume as they are working
to address protesters demands.
Production there has fallen to
little over 200,000 barrels per day
from 1.4 million bpd in July due to
protests that closed the oileld in
the eastern region of the country.
Reuters
Crude falls nearly 2%
as Ukraine crisis eases
NEW YORK US stocks rallied
on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 at
a record high, as fears eased of a
confrontation between Russia and
Ukraine and Russian President
Vladimir Putin said there was no
need to use military force in the
Crimea region for now.
The gains follow hefty losses in
US equities and other risky assets on
Monday. Global stocks rebounded
while gold, the Japanese yen and
Treasuries prices fell. Crude oil
prices, up more than 2% on Monday,
reversed some of that sessions gain.
Mondays selling and Tuesdays
stark reversal have become com-
monplace in traders calendars
in 2014, said Andrew Wilkinson,
chief market analyst at Interactive
Brokers LLC in Greenwich, Con-
necticut.
Investors have clearly got an
appetite for equities displaying
strong momentum no matter
whether geopolitical risks or fears
for the health of the recovery stand
in their path.
The CBOE Vol ati l i ty i n-
dex,WallStreetsso-calledfeargauge,
fell 11.9% to 14.09, on Tuesday after
rising 14% in the previous session.
Mr. Putin ordered troops in-
volved in a military exercise near
the Ukrainian border back to their
bases as he sought to ease tensions a
day after Russian stocks, bonds and
currency were hammered.
The Dow Jones industrial aver-
age rose 227.85 points or 1.41%, to
16,395.88, the S&P 500gained 28.18
points or 1.53%, to 1,873.71 and the
Nasdaq Composite added 74.67
points or 1.75%, to 4,351.97.
The S&P hit an intraday record of
1,871.44 while the Nasdaq Compos-
ite touched a 14-year high.
The longer-term trend of the US
equity indexes remains positive,
but short-term indicators remain
overbought and are peaking as most
indexes rally back to resistance
at their 2014 highs, said Robert
Sluymer, analyst at RBC Capital
Markets, LLC in New York.
Disney shares hit a record high
after reaching a deal with Dish Net-
WallStreet rallies
on calmer Ukraine
work that allows the No. 2 satellite
TV provider to carry Disney-owned
networks such as ABC and ESPN,
and deliver the content outside of a
traditional TV subscription. Disney
shares were last up 2.8% at $81.65
after earlier hitting $82.17.
Qualcomm Inc. rose 4% to
$76.56. The worlds biggest cell-
phone chip maker raised its share
repurchase authorization by $5 bil-
lion to $7.8 billion and increased its
cash dividend by 20%.
Shares of RadioShack Corp. fell
16.2% to $2.28. The struggling re-
tailer said it would close up to 1,100
US stores after a huge drop in holi-
day sales.
GOLDFALLS 1%
Goldfell about 1% on Tuesday as
assurances from Russias presi-
dent that military force would
be a last resort in the Ukraine
crisis prompted investors to
take profits from the previous
days rally.
Bullions drop came as US eq-
uities measured by the S&P 500
indexsurged more than 1% to a re-
cord high after Mr. Putin ordered
troops involved in a military ex-
ercise near the Ukrainian border
back to their bases as he sought to
ease tensions.
Spot gold fell 0.9% to $1,337.86
by 2:10 p.m. EST (1910 GMT),
its worst daily loss in more than
a month since Jan. 30. US CO-
MEXgoldfuturesfor April delivery
settled down $12.40 an ounce at
$1,337.90. Trading volume is about
10% below its 30-day average, pre-
liminary Reuters data showed.
The yellow metal rallied nearly
2% on Monday as investors, alarmed
by East-West tensions, piled into
bullion and government debt.
In the retailgoldmarket, buying
among private bullion investors
rebounded in February after three
consecutive monthly drop, said a
survey by online precious metals
market BullionVault. Reuters
LONDON Copper rose to its highest
in nearly a week on Tuesday, after fall-
ing to three-month lows the day before,
as a possible softening in Russias stance
on Ukraine eased aversion to assets per-
ceived as risky.
President Vladimir Putin said on
Tuesday Russia saw no need to use
military force in the Crimea region of
Ukraine for now, in remarks apparently
intended to ease East-West tension
over fears of war in the former Soviet
republic.
Many investors on Monday ocked
to safe-haven assets such as gold for fear
of an escalation in tensions in Ukraine.
That ight to safety reversed on Tues-
day, with world shares rebounding and
goldfalling.
Three-month copper on the London
Metal Exchange hit its highest since
Feb. 26 at $7,068 in intraday trade. It
ended at $7,049.50 a ton, up from a close
of $6,968 in the previous day. The metal
used in power and construction hit a
three-month low of $6,944 a ton on
Monday.
Tepid growth in developed nations
and risks to emerging markets have also
battered sentiment towards base met-
als as traders wait for industrial orders
to pick up after this years Lunar New
Year holiday in Asia and for signs of a
rmer US economic revival.
Manufacturing growth in Europe
and Asia slowed last month, pressured
by falling demand from abroad, while
the United States bucked the trend,
with manufacturing expanding at its
fastest pace in over three years.
Buyers were on the sidelines due to
the political tensions in Ukraine and
also ahead of Fridays major US jobs
report, given that a poor result could
pile more pressure onmetals.
In other metals, zinc hit its highest
in a year in intraday trade at $2,124.50,
while nickel hit its highest since early
June at $15,167. Zinc closed at $2,121
from $2,069 on Monday, while nickel
ended at $15,150 from $14,730.
Tin closed at $23,305 from $22,950,
lead ended at $2,137 from $2,113 and
aluminiumclosed at $1,768 from $1,721.
Reuters
Copper up near
one-week high
FTSE NASDAQ COMPOSITE DOW JONES
DJ EURO STOXX 225-NIKKEI
30 days to 5 MARCH 2014
KOSPI
OPEN: 1973.28 CLOSE: 1971.24
HIGH: 1977.30 NET: 17.13
LOW: 1970.28 PREV: 1954.11
30 days to 4 MARCH 2014 30 days to 5 MARCH 2014
30 days to 4 MARCH 2014 30 days to 4 MARCH 2014 30 days to 4 MARCH 2014
OPEN: 16,169.32 CLOSE: 16,395.88
HIGH: 16,419.49 NET: 227.85
LOW: 16,169.32 PREV: 16,168.03
OPEN: 4327.85 CLOSE: 4351.97
HIGH: 4357.21 NET: 74.67
LOW: 4327.54 PREV: 4277.30
OPEN: 3081.59 CLOSE: 3136.33
HIGH: 3136.51 NET: 82.34
LOW: 3081.59 PREV: 3053.99
OPEN: 14905.95 CLOSE: 14897.63
HIGH: 14992.19 NET: 176.15
LOW: 14897.63 PREV: 14721.48
OPEN: 6708.35 CLOSE: 6823.77
HIGH: 6827.22 NET: 115.42
LOW: 6708.35 PREV: 6708.35
15300
15560
15820
16080
16340
16600
3970.00
4050.00
4130.00
4210.00
4290.00
4370.00
6430
6520
6610
6700
6790
6880
2960
3005
3050
3095
3140
3185
14000
14410
14820
15230
15640
16050
1,880
1,903
1,926
1,949
1,972
1,995
COCONUT
MANILA COPRA(based on 6% moisture)
Peso/100kg Buyer Seller
Manila 1600/1650
Lag/Qzn/Luc 4100/4150
Coconut Oil - Crude 64.50/65.50
COCONUT OIL (PHIL/IDN),$ per ton,
CIF Rotterdam
Mar14/Apr14 1425.00
Apr14/May14 1425.00
May14/Jun14 1425.00
COCONUT OIL (US)-cents/lb
Crude CIF, NY Nola Mar/Apr 63.75
Crude FOB rail Nola Mar 65.75
SPOT PRICES
METAL
COPPER Journal, spot, US cts/lb
COPPER Merchant,US cts/lb 328.55
COPPER No.2 Refned, US cts/lb 355.35
COPPER Bare Bright,del US cts/lb 389.85
LEAD battery scrap, del US cts/lb 42.50
LEAD Premium, del US cts/lb 13.50
LEAD Asarco Premium, del US cts/lb
ALUMINUM Premium, del US cts/lb 18.25
ALUMINUM Alloy, spot, US cts/lb 87.00
ALU Mixed Clips, del US cts/lb 61.00
ALU Turnings, del US cts/lb 49.00
TIN Premium/Grade A, US cts/lb 34.03
TIN Premium/Low Lead, US cts/lb 41.90
PALLADIUM free $/troy oz 762.90
PALLADIUM JMI base, $/troy oz 770.00
PLATINUM free $/troy oz 1464.00
PLATINUM JMI base $/troy oz 1467.00
KRUGGERAND, fob $/troy oz 1297.56
NICKEL Premium, del US cts/lb 22.50
ZINC Premium, del US cts/lb 7.00
IRIDIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz 480.00
RHODIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz 1035.00
FOOD
COCOA ICCO Dly (SDR/mt) 1928.01
COCOA ICCO $/mt 2983.04
COFFEE ICA comp 79 cts/lb 165.50
COFFEE mild arabica NY cts/lb 217.25
COFFEE mild arabica Bmen/Hburg 212.13
COFFEE robusta NY cts/lb 111.58
COFFEE robusta Le Havre/Marseilles 103.71
SUGAR ISA FOB Daily Price, Carib. port cts/lb 18.03
SUGAR ISA 15-day ave. 16.87
GRAINS
(FOB Bangkok basis at every Thursday)
FRAGRANT (100%) 1st Class, $/ton 1020
FRAGRANT (100%) 2nd Class, $/ton 972
RICE (5%) White Thai- $/ton 463
RICE (10%) White Thai- $/ton 457
RICE (15%) White Thai- $/ton 427
RICE (25%) White Thai- $/ton (Super) 385
RICE (35%) White Thai- $/ton (Super) 0
BROKER RICE A-1 Super $/ton 313
RUBBER
Standard Msian Rub. 5 (FOB)Mal cts/kilo 0.00
Standard Msian Rub. 20 (FOB)Mal cts/kilo 0.00
TUESDAY, MARCH4, 2014
LIFFE COFFEE
New Robusta 10 MT - $/ton
High Low Sett Psett
Mar 2184 2112 2111 2155
May 2136 2072 2077 2098
Jul 2120 2061 2067 2084
Sep 2115 2063 2064 2078
LIFFE COCOA (Ldn)-10 MT-/ton
High Low Sett Psett
Mar 1832 1812 1828 1814
May 1846 1823 1844 1825
Jul 1848 1823 1847 1825
Sep 1843 1820 1842 1820
LONDON METAL EXCHANGE
LME FINAL CLOSING PRICES, US$/MT
CASH 3 MOS
ALUM. H.G. 1687.00 1768
ALUM. Alloy 1780.00 1850
COPPER 7035.00 7049.5
LEAD 2102.50 2137
NICKEL 14830.00 15150
TIN 23225.00 23305
ZINC 2114.00 2120.5